Manchester City vs PSG: Can City keep their treble hopes alive?

Cameron Loftus
4 May 2021

Marquinhos and Phil Foden, PSG v Man City

The Etihad plays host to only its second ever Champions League semi-final as PSG visit Manchester for the second leg.

When: Tuesday, May 4, 20:00 GMT

How to watch: BT Sport

Best bets

2-2 draw at 13/1 (BetVictor)

Neymar to score anytime at 23/10 (Unibet)

Sergio Aguero to score anytime at 5/4 (Sky Bet)

Will the Champions League trophy have a new name on it?

Following last week's first-leg triumph in Paris, Manchester City are odds on to lift the Champions League for the first time on May 29 in Istanbul.

They are now 4/6 across the board to win the tournament.

Two away goals and a dominant second-half display kept PSG superstars Kylian Mbappe and Neymar out of the spotlight in the first leg and left the Parisians with a small mountain to climb.

However, with two of the best players in the world, PSG cannot be written off just yet and are desperate to get their hands on the most sought after trophy in club soccer.

After defeat at the Parc des Princes, PSG are the dark horses of the four remaining teams and now stand at 10/1 to go all the way.

Last three meetings

PSG 1-2 Manchester City (April 28, 2021)

Two goals in seven minutes for Manchester City cancelled out Marquinhos' strike inside the first 15 minutes in Paris.

Victory meant City took their unbeaten away record to 18 in all competitions, scoring 46 and conceding only nine.

Their resurgent second-half display really caught the eye and the two goals they scored were thoroughly deserved on the balance of play.

City did not get on the scoresheet until the 65th minute when an intended cross from Kevin De Bruyne found its way into the net.

Soon after, the away team had a free-kick in a promising position with Mahrez standing over the ball. The Algerian managed to take advantage of a gap in a broken PSG wall to curl the ball in and make it 2-1.

PSG will be without Idrissa Gueye for the second leg after he was sent off for a reckless tackle on Ilkay Gundogan in the 77th minute.

Manchester City 1-0 PSG (April 12, 2016)

The English and French giants met at the quarter-final stage in the 2015/16 Champions League. With the tie poised after a 2-2 draw in Paris, the Manchester club took the initiative and won courtesy of a Kevin De Bruyne goal.

Sergio Aguero missed a first-half penalty to keep the game at 0-0 going into half time. Joe Hart thwarted a powerful Zlatan Ibrahimovic free-kick to stop the away side taking the lead.

Lucas Moura had the ball in the Man City net but an offside flag kept the scores level. A Thiago Silva header was pushed over the crossbar by Hart before De Bruyne scored a wonderful curling shot with only 15 minutes left on the clock.

The goal helped City into the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time.

PSG 2-2 Manchester City (April 6, 2016)

Two away goals gave Manchester City a slight advantage going into the second leg at the Etihad.

An early PSG penalty appeal was waved away before they were awarded a spot kick following a foul on David Luiz. However, Joe Hart kept Ibrahimovic out from 12 yards.

Sloppy play in midfield from the home team allowed City to counter attack and influential midfielder Fernandinho supplied the pass to Kevin De Bruyne, who confidently finished to make it 1-0.

Man City were the masters of their own downfall for the equaliser. As they attempted to play out of defence, Fernando was caught on the ball and Ibrahimovic's interception found a way into the net.

Adrien Rabiot tapped in to give the Parisians a vital lead. However, 13 minutes later Fernandinho scored a messy goal to make it 2-2 on the night after multiple half-clearances and deflections helped the ball into the net.

Head-to-head

Played: 4

Manchester City wins: 2

Drawn: 2

PSG wins: 0

Manchester City goals: 5

PSG goals: 3

How did the teams fare at the weekend?

Pep Guardiola took his side to London on Saturday lunchtime to face an out-of-sorts Crystal Palace outfit.

The City line-up displayed no less than eight changes with fringe players getting a chance to shine. Although personnel had been altered, the slick passing and movement that we have become accustomed to from Man City was still there for all to see.

Palace, to their credit, defended resolutely and the sides went in with the scores level at half-time. However, City's dominance would show and a sharp move down their left resulted in Sergio Aguero finding space to take a brilliant first touch and lash home a powerful volley into the roof of Vicente Guaita's goal.

Sergio Aguero celebrates his opener for Man City at Palace

The match had only just kicked off again when Ferran Torres struck from outside the box, sealing all three points in a matter of moments. This display practically crowned Guardiola's team as champions and emphasised the strength in depth of their star-studded squad.

PSG were able to rest a couple of key faces including Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria for their 2-1 victory against Lens. Mauricio Pochettino's outfit are still in a battle with Lille for the Ligue 1 title and so cannot afford to rotate their team dramatically before Tuesday's crucial second leg.

It was one of their stars who shone on Saturday, with Neymar scoring and providing the assist for the other goal. By no means was this a straightforward win for PSG; Lens came into the game on a 13-match unbeaten run, the longest in the league.

Lens were caught on the ball and Neymar was played in by his team-mate to open the scoring. A minute shy of the hour-mark and a Neymar corner was headed in by fellow Brazilian Marquinhos, just as he did against Manchester City in the first leg.

The away team quickly got themselves back in the match with an Ignatius Ganago finish only two minutes later. This, though, was not enough and PSG kept the pressure on Lille with three games remaining.

Although Lille lead the way in the race, PSG are 3/4 to win the Ligue 1 title again this season with Unibet.

Scoreline prediction: Manchester City 2-2 PSG

This second leg marks potentially the biggest game in both clubs' history, and it has the ability to be an extremely exciting match for the neutral.

With PSG facing the one-goal deficit, they are likely to come out all guns blazing, as they did in the first leg. If Guardiola's men can weather the storm early on then they will be confident of winning the tie.

Plenty of goalmouth action is predicted but despite so many match-winners in each side, a 2-2 draw and Manchester City progress is the forecast.

Goalscorer bets

Sergio Aguero was back to his old self in a vintage display in the 2-1 win against Crystal Palace at the weekend, capping his performance with a goal.

The Argentine may well get some more minutes against PSG and he is 5/4 to score at any time with Sky Bet.

Neymar once again impressed at the weekend, grabbing a goal and an assist and although he played the full 90 minutes, he is unlikely to show any fatigue in this huge clash.

The PSG forward is 23/10 (Unibet) to score at any time.