Prioritise Anfield
For a game being built up as a major clash between two of the favourites to win the Champions League, the trip to Paris Saint-Germain has to be only Manchester City’s third most important match this week!
Saturday’s trip to Chelsea was crucial - defeat would have left City six points adrift of their opponents and facing a long haul back to the top, even at such an early stage of the season.
Victory has eased the pressure on the league position, but on Sunday the trip to Anfield carries plenty of significance for much the same reasons as the Stamford Bridge clash did.
Defeat by Liverpool would leave City off the pace in what could be a breakneck chase for the title, so if there are player rotation issues, Liverpool should take priority.
In terms of the Champions League, comfortably beating RB Leipzig has eased some of the pressure, so the trip to PSG is not a must-win, or even a must-draw - defeat would not be good, but it would leave City well-placed to still progress.
With the return against Messi & Co. still to come, and two games against unfancied Bruges - against whom PSG have already dropped points - the Blues can afford not to win this one.
Euro man
Ilkay Gundogan has been Pep Guardiola’s go-to man in European games in the last five seasons - he rarely misses a game.
The manager even managed to shoehorn him into his team for last season’s final by playing him as a defensive midfielder - with dire consequences.
The prospect of the Germany international not being fit enough to play in Paris means Guardiola needs to find someone else who can dictate the rhythm and flow of the game in the way Gundogan does to such effect.
Messi menace
The reunion between Lionel Messi and the man who managed him to glory at Barcelona is one of several intriguing sideshows to this game.
Rumours persist that the two men did not always see eye to eye at Barca.
Since they parted, when Guardiola left the Nou Camp, the two men have faced each other four times, with Messi’s Barca coming out on top when they beat Pep’sBayern Munich 5-3 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 3-2 in Germany.
Against City, Messi scored a hat-trick as the Blues had Claudio Bravo re-carded and then collapsed after a bright start in a group game in 2016, but exacted revenge with a 3-1 win at the Etihad Stadium in the return, with Messi again bagging the goal.
Semi pointer
Last season’s semi-final meeting between these two ended with City winning both legs, which looks convincing.
But the Blues rode their luck, with Kevin De Bruyne’s equaliser in Paris being a free kick that fortunately drifted into the net, and Riyad Mahrez clinching the win with a free kick that somehow found its way through the defensive wall.
PSG have added Messi to their formidable armoury since then, while City have picked up Jack Grealish, so that last four meeting offers few pointers.
Jumping Jack
Jack Grealish cited the chance to play in the Champions League as a major factor in pushing for a £100million move to City.
And this is exactly the kind of game he had in mind, with his undoubted talents being measured against Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Grealish has settled well at City and been an effective performer without setting the world alight.
This is the stage he has craved, so maybe this will be his moment to announce himself on a European stage.
