Paul Merson says it will be a miracle if Manchester City do not qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
City dropped to 25th in the Champions League standings – a position that would see them eliminated from the competition – after a 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
Pep Guardiola admitted City's elimination from the Champions League is now a “reality” as his side sit two points behind 24th-placed Stuttgart heading into their “last chance” match against Club Brugge on January 29 .
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes Man City still 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 dangerous position.
He also believes Guardiola's side face a huge battle to finish in the top four of the Premier League. With Chelsea next in line for them in the competition, live on Sky Sports, things don't get any easier for the champions…
'World-class players come to the end'
I didn't believe in this Man City coming back.
Brentford should have beaten them. They scored six and eight against Ipswich and Salford, but Leicester also missed good opportunities against them.
I don't think they've been great, so this PSG result doesn't shock me at all.
Manchester City is having a hard time. The team's legs are gone. When PSG showed a lot of energy, like Brentford, they went through it like a knife through butter.
It's a big problem for them. This team is changing and it is difficult because we are talking about world-class players, but some of them are coming to the end.
'A miracle if City don't qualify'
It would be a miracle if Man City don't qualify.
This Champions League lineup is made for top teams to get through. Even if they have a bad day at the office, they still reach the knockout stages via the play-off 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 get through, you would think that Manchester City would have more than enough to do that.
Celtic, who have gone through this – and it has served them well – would have opted for that scenario at the start of the tournament.
I think Man City will come through.
'The energy of the city has disappeared'
There's Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic in that midfield triangle, with Phil Foden and Savinho on the wings. Who wins the ball back? Who closes off and comes in and around the opposition?
When you look at Man City now and see them again, they are not the old Man City. They are not the team that used to go after the opposition and suffocate them. They used to hunt in packs to retrieve the ball.
These players no longer follow like they used to. They just don't do it anymore.
They don't have that energy and teams with that energetic style give them problems.
There is a lot of work to be done at Man City. They are in a good fight to reach the top four of the Premier League and while I expect them to beat Club Brugge, there will also be challenges in the Champions League.
Merse on City's transfer activities in January…
I love Omar Marmoush from Frankfurt. He is a good goalscorer. However, I don't see how he ends up in this Man City team.
He is a good striker, but if he is asked to play on the left or right, to intervene and join the game, I don't see how that works because it is difficult to join Erling Haaland.
Haaland is also an incredible goalscorer, but he is not interested in working with wingers in the way Marmoush wants to play.
I find it difficult to see where he fits in.
Matheus Nunes has struggled wherever he has played for Man City.
If you ask him to play as a right-back in the way Man City are exposed, you will have to deal with it every week.
Letting Kyle Walker go for around €4 million, I just don't understand it. It's nothing, it's a cup of tea in football.
I'm still a big fan of Walker. I know he's lost a bit of his pace, but he'd still make my team.
'Chelsea and Palmer will cause Man City problems'
I don't see Man City getting back into the Premier League title race.
In my opinion they are in a huge battle to get into the top four. That's it for them this season.
Chelsea and Arsenal come in between with that big match against Club Brugge.
I just don't see how they can get back into the mix with Liverpool this far ahead.
I see Chelsea beating them this weekend.
The energy that Chelsea and Cole Palmer have in that small space. I see Enzo Maresca's team causing huge problems for City.
The game against PSG would have helped Chelsea. They will look and see that this is not the old man's town.
They cannot maintain any intensity in their playing for more than five or ten minutes. Palmer holds the key for Chelsea. I don't understand how Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic live with him.
I would be shocked if Chelsea lost this match.
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