Big names with their backs to the wall. What could have been a formality for two regulars in the last European four is this year more like a station of the cross. Two days before the end of the league phase, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, who face each other at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday January 22 (at 9 p.m.), are partly at stake for their survival in the Champions League. A clash between two major players in European Football which can be summed up in a few telling figures.
22nd and 25th: Citizens and Parisians in the red zone
For this first edition of the new version of the Champions League, with only one ranking before the play-offs and the final phase, Manchester City is in 22nd place (out of 36) with eight points on the clock. Of the six matches already played, the English club, winner of the 2023 edition, has done everything in twos: victories, defeats and draws.
For its part, PSG is doing even less well with a 25th position and seven points, one place from access to the play-offs to hope to see the round of 16. In total, the Parisians have two victories against three defeats and a draw.
Luis Enrique’s players raised the bar during the last European day, during which they crushed Salzburg (3-0), when those of Pep Guardiola were defeated by Juventus (0-2). Both Paris and Manchester City are under threat of elimination from the Champions League phase, which would be a huge surprise given their ambitions and their status.
Only 1 victory for PSG in eight matches
While the Citizens and the Parisians meet for the eighth time in their history, the English have already taken the upper hand four times, notably in the two face-to-face meetings in the final phase: in the quarter-finals of the Ligue des 2015-2016 champions, then in the semi-finals of the 2020-2021 edition. PSG’s only victory against Manchester City dates back to the first leg of the group stage of the 2021-2022 season (2-0). On the return leg, the last confrontation to date, the Parisians lost (2-1).
0 defeats for Paris in Ligue 1, 6 for City in the Premier League
In 18 Ligue 1 matches, PSG have yet to experience defeat and have only had to share points four times. Although they have been less sharp in recent weeks, the capital’s players have managed to maintain their invincibility. With already nine lengths ahead of their runner-up from Marseille and 14 ahead of third place Lille, PSG is not really shaken up by the competition.
Conversely, Pep Guardiola’s players have already recorded six losses. However, they are getting their heads above water after having experienced a very dismal end to the year, with two meager victories in 14 matches (all competitions combined) between October 30 and December 29, 2024. With two successes and a draw in the Premier League since the start of 2025, the Citizens have returned to fourth place in the championship and are moving forward with renewed confidence.
20 goals in the Citizens’ last four matches
Facing the net, Manchester City’s scorers have regained their efficiency, with no less than 20 goals scored in the last four meetings on English soil (cup and championship). The best English player last season, Phil Foden, for example, scored two doubles in less than a week, although he had only scored two goals since the start of the season. Record holder for the number of goals scored in a single season in the Premier League (36), the Norwegian Erling Haaland – who extended his contract until 2034 with Manchester City – is one unit behind the current top scorer in the English championship Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) with 17 goals.
-The Parisians currently seem less effective, with nine goals in the last four matches. And they will not be able to rely on their new recruit, the Georgian striker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. He is in fact not allowed to play in the league phase, because they were absent from the list presented to UEFA at the start of the competition. On European pitches too, Manchester City scored more than their opponent on Wednesday (13 against six). But the Parisian club conceded fewer goals (six against nine).
0 eliminations in the group stage for PSG since their return to the Champions League in 2012
Twelve consecutive editions without flinching in the first round. Soon a thirteenth? Players from the capital have been playing in C1 continuously since the 2012-2013 season, a year after the arrival of Qatari investors. Above all, they have never lost in the group stage during this Qatari era. Conversely, the Citizens, bought in 2008 by Emirati investors, have failed twice since the start of the 2010s: during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 seasons.
2nd and 4th: City and PSG among the biggest spenders on the transfer market since 2015
Who says ambitious club, says high financial means. For several years, Manchester City, owned by Saudi funds, and PSG, majority owned by Quatarian funds, have been competing to attract the best players on the planet. In the game of the biggest spenders, the English club spent between 2015 and 2024, 1.96 billion euros to build its squad, according to The Football Observatory.
It thus places itself in second place in this European Top 20 behind Chelsea (2.78 billion) but two places ahead of PSG (4th), which spent 1.90 billion over this period. The Parisian club is the only non-English present among the top four of this ranking.
1 Champions League trophy in Manchester City’s wardrobe
Parisians have dreamed of it for a long time, the Citizens have already done it. Manchester City climbed to the roof of club Europe in 2023, following a final won against Inter Milan (1-0). The English had stumbled two years before on the last step, losing in the final against Chelsea (0-1).
Over the last five years, Parisiens and Citizens have each reached three semi-finals in the Champions League. For PSG, the 2020 European final – lost to Bayern Munich (0-1) – allowed the club to break a glass ceiling, after four failures in consecutive quarter-finals followed by three others in the round of 16. But the capital’s supporters are impatiently awaiting the first European title. To achieve this dream, the Parisians will first have to get out of the bottom of the rankings to at least win the play-offs. And a success against City would be welcome.
