"Most disastrous performance a City player has had in decades" - Fans call out Manchester City star after loss to PSG

Manchester City fans were unimpressed with Rico Lewis' performance in their UEFA Champions League match with Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday, January 22. The England defender came on as a substitute but failed to make a significant impact in the 45 minutes he spent on the pitch.

Ahead of the game, both sides were in dire need of a win. Manchester City were sitting in the final qualification berth while PSG sat in the exit zone.

A first 45 minutes that was largely dominated by the French giants would have seen them take the lead before the break.

Achraf Hakimi thought he had given PSG the lead in the 45th minute, but it was chalked off for offside against Nuno Mendes.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola brought on Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis immediately after the restart.

While Luis Enrique continued to dominate proceedings after the restart, it was the reigning Premier League champions that opened the scoring first.

Grealish put Manchester City ahead in the 50th minute, burying a loose ball that came in his direction. Three minutes later, he set up Erling Haaland with a deflected pass to double City's lead.

Undeterred, Paris Saint Germain continued to crank up the pressure, and they were back on level terms exactly on the hour mark. Ousmane Dembele halved the deficit in the 56th minute while Bradley Barcola restored parity four minutes later.

The game was turned on its head in the 78th minute as Joao Neves headed in Vitinha’s set piece at the back post to complete PSG’s turnaround.

Goncalo Ramos put the game to bed in the third minute of stoppage time to hand Les Parisiens a much-needed 4-2 victory that put them back into the qualification spots with one game left to play.

While all Manchester City defenders had a game to forget, Rico Lewis was appallingly poor. The 20-year-old was the lowest-rated Manchester City defender along with John Stones as per Sofascore, with a rating of 6.1.

In the game's aftermath, fans took to X to berate him for his performance.

An X user wrote:

"Rico Lewis was responsible for the first 3 PSG goals. He was by far the worst on the pitch. It might have been the most disastrous performance a City player has had in decades."

Another tweeted:

"Rico Lewis is not a top level player. He was shockingly bad tonight."

"Get Akanji out of the starting eleven, I do not want to see Rico Lewis on the field again. As of Bernardo, please just leave at the end of the season" @Bluemoon119900 wrote

"As good and talented as rico lewis is, he's kind of a liability in that man city defence. he doesn't have the physicality or positional awareness to play anywhere in that city backline." @uche_alua added

"Rico Lewis needs to be loaned out for a season" @bidsedem opined

"Rico Lewis is embarrassing 😭😭😩" @JobKaruma chimed in

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola Says PSG 'were better' after Champions League defeat

Pep Guardiola insisted that PSG was better than his Manchester City side after falling to a 4-2 defeat at the Parc des Princes.

The Spaniard claimed the Ligue 1 giants had an extra man in the middle and a false nine which made the game difficult for them.

Guardiola said via Manchester City's website:

“Am I angry?] No. They were better. The players suffer and they were better. They had better intensity to win duels. We found our moment to score two goals and go 0-2. When they have the ball they drop us but when we have the ball we create problems for them."

“At 0-2 and 1-2 we could not play. To defend, you have to have the ball. They were better. They had an extra man in the middle with a false nine and that’s why it was difficult. They were better, and we have to accept it."

He added:

"We have the last chance at home against Brugge and we will do everything there. If not, it’s because we don’t deserve it."

"We have had tough games away, but the games against Inter and Feyenoord have put us in this position."

"It’s not about that that we can’t qualify, but after that you have to recover players and do better. They were better and we have to accept it.”

After a 4-2 defeat, Manchester City now find themselves in the exit zone on the UCL table. They are currently on the 25th position with 8 points after seven games.