Champions League: Manchester City will have to achieve the “perfect match” to beat PSG, believes Enzo Maresca

The clash promises sparks this Wednesday evening at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City will need to produce the “perfect match” to beat Paris Saint-Germain, “the best team in Europe at the moment,” coach Enzo Maresca said on Tuesday on the eve of a highly anticipated Champions League duel.

“The message is quite simple: we need the perfect match because they are the best team in Europe at the moment. They have won the last two Champions Leagues, which shows how strong they are. (...) But at the same time, if we give the best of ourselves, we can beat them and be happy at the end,” said the Italian in a pre-match conference.

“You have to be very good to beat them, that’s what we’re aiming for”

“Where are we at the moment in relation to PSG? Honestly, I don’t know,” he added. “I don’t know if we are close, far, where we are exactly, but one thing is certain: we are a good team,” said Pep Guardiola’s successor.

“It’s a great team and it’s impossible not to recognize that. I know some of their players personally, I know how good they are, we see the flexibility they show at every moment of the match,” added defender and captain, Ruben Dias. “You have to be very good to beat them, that’s what we’re aiming for.” Manchester City have won all their matches under Maresca, with the exception of the first, the Community Shield (Champions Trophy) lost 3-0 in mid-August against Arsenal.

Leave with three points or nothing

Despite this encouraging start, “we still need to improve a lot of things, that's for sure. Our way of attacking, of defending, without a doubt we must progress in several aspects,” said the 46-year-old coach. He also said he was “completely calm, relaxed” in relation to the case of alleged financial embezzlement targeting his club. “I promise you I worry a lot about the game plan and how we can practice every day. But I don't stress about things I can't control.

The speech was identical on Ruben Dias' side. “When you build yourself as a player, you build yourself against any type of noise, including this one. I think I speak on behalf of the whole group when I say that we are very calm, we trust the club and we are focused on our football. We want to win, that’s the only thing that matters to us.”