<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/manchester-city/" target="_blank">Pep Guardiola</a> admitted his side deserved defeat after <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/manchester-city/" target="_blank">Manchester City's</a> dramatic collapse at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night. City surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 4-2 at the Parc des Princes and are now in danger of crashing out of the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/champions-league/" target="_blank">Champions League</a> at the first stage of the revamped format. The defeat left them outside the top 24 in the table and needing to beat Club Brugge – one of the teams above them they can still catch – next week to scrape through to the play-off round. Guardiola said: “They were better, they were quicker. They won the duels with the ball and had one more in the middle. We could not cope with that as they were fast. “The best team won and we have one last chance at home against Brugge. Hopefully, we can qualify. “The game was never like we wanted but I give full credit to PSG as they are a fantastic and extraordinary team. We could have been better with the ball but we could not do it.” City made a slow start but found their stride to take control of the game with goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland early in the second half. That made their subsequent implosion all the more shocking. Goals from Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola levelled the contest before Joao Neves headed the hosts in front. Goncalo Ramos put the seal on a rampant home comeback in stoppage time. “We didn’t deserve [to win],” added Guardiola, who revealed that defender Ruben Dias had asked to be substituted at half-time because he “didn’t feel good”. “To defend the result you have to take the ball and we didn’t have it.” On the prospect of an early exit, Guardiola said: “It could happen. If we don’t win we won’t deserve it. We haven’t got enough points and we’ll have to accept it. Now we have to recover and prepare for Chelsea.” PSG had gone into the game with their hopes also in the balance but their stunning display lifted them above City and on course for the play-offs. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2025/01/22/psg-v-manchester-city-a-clash-of-managerial-acumen-and-gulf-ambition-for-european-glory/" target="_blank">Coach Luis Enrique</a> said: “This team has a lot of things going for it. They won’t ever give up, even when they’re two goals down. We scored four goals, hit the woodwork twice and had one chalked off – all against such a good side. We now need to win one more match against Stuttgart to qualify.” Holders Real Madrid got back on track with a 5-1 victory over RB Salzburg to ensure they will not be eliminated at the first hurdle following a rocky group stage. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo struck twice each with French star Kylian Mbappe also on target in a ruthless display at the Bernabeu. Carlo Ancelotti's side lost three of their first six games and will likely have to compete in the extra play-off round in February which is part of the competition's new format unless they can sneak through in the top eight. Victory put them 16th, a point behind Bayer Leverkusen in eighth, which is the final spot for direct qualification to the last 16. Rodrygo struck twice in the first half to help Madrid take control, with Mbappe netting soon after the break and Vinicius grabbing a brace of his own to bring up a century of goals for the club. “I'm very happy after reaching 100 goals with this shirt,” Vinicius told <i>Movistar</i>. “I hope to be able to continue like this and score a lot of goals, and mark an era in this team – that's my dream.” Arsenal and Inter Milan secured routine wins to rise to third and fourth, respectively, though neither are sure to join Liverpool and Barcelona among the top-eight teams advancing directly to the Round of 16. Arsenal beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 and Inter won 1-0 at Sparta Prague with both now on 16 points, three clear of ninth-place Aston Villa. Elsewhere, AC Milan quietly rose to sixth place with a 1-0 win against Girona at San Siro thanks to a powerful strike in the first half by Rafael Leao. Bayern Munich fell to a miserable 3-0 defeat at Feyenoord and dropped into mid-table alongside Madrid and Juventus with the famous clubs now risking playing each other. The teams that finish 15-18 in the standings next week will be drawn against each other in the play-offs – for the right to face Liverpool and, likely, Barcelona in the Round of 16. Celtic secured their place in the knockout rounds by winning 1-0 against Young Boys. Leipzig ended a six-game losing run with a 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon, though the Portuguese side are still likely to advance. Shakhtar Donetsk stayed in contention with a 2-0 win against Brest. All 36 teams will be in action at the same time next Wednesday [January 29] in 18 games all kicking off at the same time – midnight (UAE). The top eight in the final standings get a break until March, waiting for the Round of 16. Teams that finish from ninth to 24th will enter the knockout play-offs. Those two-legged ties will be drawn on January 31.