Rio Ferdinand has insisted it would be a shame if Manchester City failed to qualify for the Champions League stages after their ignominious defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola's side had faced a dominant host side for the entire first half in the French capital but managed to keep the scoresheet flowing after PSG had their potential opener ruled out for offside.
Jack Grealish instead drew the first blood minutes after being introduced in the second half, with Erling Haaland putting the visitors 2-0 ahead in the 53rd minute.
But once a buffer was built up, it took a while for Man City to collapse, with PSG coming back quickly through Ousmane Dembele.
A brilliant performance from young talent Bradley Barcola was polished by his equalizer, with Joao Neves putting the home side ahead in the 78th minute – and Goncalo Ramos ending their misery with a fourth deep into extra time.
Defeat on the road leaves Man City outside the play-off places and will depend on victory against Club Brugge next week to boost their chances of reaching the knockout stages.
But if they were to falter at the Etihad, Ferdinand insisted, the result would be devastating.
“100 percent (it) would be a failure if they crashed,” Ferdinand shared on TNT Sports. “I think with all the success City have had in recent years, people expect them to reach a minimum of knockout stages. I I think they would.' I think it's a shame, I'm sure, because they see themselves as a team going into the latter stages and have demanded that in recent years.
“The manager looks deflated and rightly so, they were 2-0 up and whatever league you're in you expect to see that.
“The inability to play against Rodri in this game, when you have to control moments and have authority, we miss that massively,” the former Man United defender added.
Ferdinand also suggested that despite all Man City's efforts to regain their confidence in a season full of pitfalls, this loss could set them back mentally.
“They have been unbeaten for a few games and say confidence is rebuilding, but we all know that in football it can quickly crumble in one performance,” Ferdinand continued.
'A lot has gone wrong at City today and I think the confidence that has been built up in recent weeks will be damaged. The way this PSG team came back from a 2-0 deficit will worry Pep.
“I don't think you can put it down to one thing, I think confidence is definitely something that has been taken away from this team, but what I would say is if it starts to become a trend you can score a goal or two. set goals, but in the back of your mind you think “what if?”.
'And that's when people, even those who you expect to be confident on the ball, suddenly start taking too many touches, which creates pressure, and today they did that and they were punished.'
Man City have lost eight points in the Champions League this season by gaining positions, but a significant fourteen in the Premier League.
The English champions will look to get back on their feet and attempt an attack on the top four in the league on Saturday when Guardiola's side welcome former assistant manager Enzo Maresca to the Etihad with his Chelsea side.
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