In a PSG barrage, City faced 26 shots – the highest total against them since the Champions League game against Real Madrid in September 2012 when the Spaniards had 35.
The sight of Matheus Nunes – an attacking operator – at right-back, with Kyle Walker close to completing a move to AC Milan, demonstrated the sort of muddled thinking that has clouded City and Guardiola’s season, a flaw which requires addressing.
He was all at sea, as was another substitute Rico Lewis, as PSG rampaged through the wide areas at will, with Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and substitute Ousmane Dembele leaving a trail of destruction behind them.
This loss was, however, a collective failure of manager and team as City threatened to fall apart, then did as they conceded four goals for the first time in a game since they lost 5-2 at home to Leicester City in September 2020.
Even after going 2-0 up, City never looked in any form or condition to manage the game. Guardiola regards possession as nine tenths of football’s law – here they were guilty of criminal negligence, with Dembele’s goal three minutes after Haaland’s second a major turning point.
Guardiola, as he stood soaked and stunned on the sidelines, powerless to prevent a defeat which should have been far more emphatic, may now realise he has an even bigger rebuilding job on his hands than he thought.
The great Kevin De Bruyne looked all of his 33 years, as did Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic, both 30, as PSG’s energy in and out of possession flagged up every frailty that has haunted City this season. De Bruyne and Kovacic were both replaced, spent, after 70 minutes.
The statistics make grim reading for Guardiola, with City having failed to win after taking the lead in nine games in all competitions this season (four losses and five draws) the most of any Premier League club in 2024/25.
City have lost their past three Champions League games away from home, their second-longest losing streak since four in a row between November 2011 and December 2012 under Roberto Mancini.
And this was the first time they have lost a game from two goals up since they a 3-2 defeat to Brighton in May 2021.
