Maresca says Manchester City will learn from PSG defeat

Enzo Maresca says Manchester City must use their 4-2 UEFA Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain as a learning experience after conceding twice in two minutes at the Etihad Stadium.

The defeat was City’s first in eight matches and ended a difficult night against the current European champions. Maresca’s side were 3-0 behind at half-time after goals from Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha.

City produced a much-improved performance after the interval, but the damage had already been done. Erling Haaland scored twice as the hosts attempted to recover, with the Norway striker becoming Manchester City’s leading scorer in the UEFA Champions League with 38 goals in 41 appearances.

Enzo Fernandez and Haaland also hit the woodwork before Haaland scored again to give City hope, but Paris Saint-Germain held on for the points.

“We can learn many things,” Maresca was quoted by Manchester City. “Even if we concede two goals against the best team in Europe, we need to do the right things.

“I continue to learn from the players because I just arrived three months ago. We concede the first goal and then after one minute, concede the second one against this kind of team. It’s already difficult when you are at 0-0.”

Maresca said the quick goals affected City’s shape and balance, although he was pleased with the changes made during the interval.

“In two minutes you concede two goals and we lost a bit of balance, distance between players,” he added. “We struggled but then in the second half we made changes, adjusted something and we were much better.

“I really like to play against PSG to be honest.”

The City manager praised Paris Saint-Germain’s approach, while insisting his team are not far away from competing with them.

“They are brave, I know the way they want to press. On the ball they are dynamic. I like to play against them,” Maresca said.

“We are there; my feeling is we are close. In the first half, we struggled because we conceded two goals and inside the pitch you think, ‘Oh my god.’”

Maresca added that Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique had admitted his side enjoyed some fortune in the match.

“Luis Enrique at the end told me they had been quite lucky,” he said. “We lost, [but] we can learn from that and move on.”