Man City: It will be a miracle if Pep Guardiola’s side fail to qualify for Champions League knockout stages, says Paul Merson | Football news

Paul Merson says it will be a miracle if Manchester City fail to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

City dropped to 25th in the Champions League table – a position that would see them eliminated from the competition – after a 4-2 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.

Pep Guardiola has admitted City’s elimination from the Champions League is now a “reality” with his side two points behind 24th-placed Stuttgart heading into their “last chance” against Club Brugge on January 29.

Speaking with Sky Sports NewsSky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes Man City have a lot of work to do to get back to their best, but has backed them to qualify for the knockout stages, despite their perilous position.

He also thinks Guardiola’s side face an uphill battle to finish in the Premier League’s top four and, with Chelsea next up for them in the league, live on Sky Sports, it doesn’t get easier for champions…..

‘Players of the word class come to the end’

I couldn’t believe that Man City came back.

Brentford should have beaten them. Against Ipswich and Salford, they scored six and eight respectively, but Leicester also missed good opportunities against them.

I don’t think they were great, so this PSG result doesn’t shock me at all.

Man City are struggling. The team’s legs are gone. When PSG showed great energy, like Brentford, they went through them like a knife through butter.

It is a big problem for them. This team is changing and it is difficult because they are world-class players, but some of them are coming to an end.

‘It would be a miracle if City didn’t qualify’

It would be a miracle if Man City didn’t qualify.

This Champions League line-up was created for the passage of the best teams. Even if they have a bad day at the office, they will still make it to the knockout stage through the playoff round.

If you had said at the start of the tournament that you were going to play Club Brugge and that you had to beat them to go through, you would have thought that Man City would have more than enough to do it.

Celtic, who went through – and kudos to them for that – would have accepted such a scenario at the start of the tournament.

I think Man City will go through.

‘City energy has disappeared’

Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovačić are in that midfield triangle, and Phil Foden and Savinho are on the wings. Who returns the ball? Who shuts down and gets involved in and around the opposition?

Watching Man City now, watching them come back, they are not the Man City of old. They are not the team that used to go to the opposition and stifle it. They used to hunt in packs to go and retrieve the ball.

These players are not tracked like before. They just don’t do it anymore.

They don’t have that energy and teams with that high-energy style give them problems.

There is a lot to do at Man City. They are in a real fight to reach the top four in the Premier League and although I expect them to beat Club Brugge, there will be challenges in the Champions League as well.

Merce about City’s transfer in January…

I like Omar Marmoush from Frankfurt. He is a good shooter. However, I don’t see how he will fit into this Man City team.

He’s a good striker, but if he’s going to be asked to play left or right, breaking and joining the play, I don’t see how that works because it’s difficult to join Erling Haaland.

Haaland is also a prodigious goalscorer, but isn’t interested in linking up with wingers the way Marmoush would like to play.

It’s hard for me to see where he fits in.

Matheus Nunes struggled wherever he played for Man City.

Asking him to play at right-back with the way Man City are exposed, you’re going to have to deal with that every week.

Letting go of Kyle Walker for around £4m, I just don’t get it. It’s nothing, it’s a cup of tea in football.

I’m still a big Walker fan. I know he lost his rhythm a bit, but he would still be on my team.

“Chelsea and Palmer will cause problems for Man City”

I don’t see Man City returning to the Premier League title race.

They are in a big fight to get into the top four, in my opinion. That’s it for this season.

They have Chelsea and Arsenal planning that big game against Club Brugge in between.

I just don’t see how they will get back into the mix with Liverpool so far ahead.

I see Chelsea beating them this weekend.

The energy Chelsea have and Cole Palmer getting into those pockets of space. I see Enzo Maresca’s team causing City big problems.

A PSG game would help Chelsea. They will watch and see that this is not the Man City of old.

I can’t sustain any intensity in my game for more than five or 10 minutes. Palmer holds the key to Chelsea. I don’t see how Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovačić live with him.

I would be shocked if Chelsea lose this game.