Enzo Maresca claimed that Manchester City should be close to challenging for the Champions League this season after losing a European classic against Paris Saint-Germain.
City’s first game back at the Etihad Stadium since being found guilty of breaching financial rules was watched by Pep Guardiola as they went down 4-2 to the defending champions.
Guardiola sat in the directors’ box behind chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak as a show of support for the club heading into their appeal during the largest legal case in British sporting history.
Maresca saw Erling Haaland net a brace to leapfrog Sergio Aguero as the club’s record scorer in the Champions League but they could not complete a dramatic comeback from three goals down.
The Italian, however, believes there is evidence that his team can place themselves in the mix to lift this trophy amid the threat of huge sporting sanctions by the Premier League domestically.
‘We are there, we are close,’ Maresca said. ‘I really like to play against PSG. They are brave. I know the way they want to press. They don’t care, they are quite dynamic, go man to man.
Enzo Maresca believes Man City should be close to challenging for the Champions League this season despite a 4-2 home defeat by PSG
Man City were stunned in the first half as PSG raced into a 3-0 lead at the Etihad
Pep Guardiola watched in the stands on his return, as he showed support for the club heading into their appeal during the largest legal case in British sporting history
‘[PSG manager] Luis [Enrique] said to me they had been quite lucky during the 90 minutes. We lost, we move on.’
Maresca apologised to the City supporters for a first-half display which saw them trail 3-0 at the break but believes there was reason for optimism thereafter.
While rejecting the idea that the toil of the past fortnight, and the emotion of Sunday’s victory at Anfield, affected his players as they conceded twice in 99 seconds, Maresca did suggest his team will need to keep mentally switched on in future ties against Europe’s best.
‘We can learn many things from the game,’ he added. ‘That even if we concede two against the best team in Europe, we (should) keep doing the right things.
‘Against this kind of team it’s already difficult. We lost balance, the distance between players. The reason we struggled in the first half is when we conceded… you think “oh my God, we are 2-0 down”.
‘But I have only been here three months and see many good things.’