good evening and welcome there's so much to be enthused about going into tonight's
contest here at the home of manchester city i'm derek ray ready to bring you match commentary
and alongside me is stuart robson and this is where it all starts in the uefa champions league
the group stage and match day one my goodness so much to look forward to it is manchester city
against paris sergeant well thanks derek this is such an important game
both sides will be desperate to start this group well let's hope we see some great football today
introducing the starting players from manchester city ederson gets the node in goal joao cancelo
starts with kyle walker has full backs kevin de bruyne starts with roderi in central midfield
and on this tactical setup they have just the one player in attack
and the psg team looks like this gianluigi donnarumma stands between the posts
sergio ramos plays alongside marquinhos in central defence
lionel messi starts with neymar out wide and the main striker today is kylian mbappe
neymar
neymar playing with purpose and control
gundogan
they've given it away
veracie beautifully disguised ball not gonna get away with that because it's offside here
and he shouldn't be offside there he's gone too early and that's a waste of a great opportunity
well he's got plenty of space on the flank here how about the cross now delivering that deep cross
well pretty straight forward for the keeper you've got to say
plenty of forward momentum here but can they produce
not out of the woods yet and just failing to bend the run enough and the flag has been raised
but it did look dangerous for a moment but the keeper has it now
rodriguez
walker great strong tackle throw in forthcoming
kevin de bruyne and torres on the ball
passing it around looking for the goal that would put them ahead
matters well they couldn't do anything with that particular cross
given away by varassi
but he keeps going but nothing comes a bit good defending it was
messi
might be able to set up the chance
can he put them in front yes is the emphatic answer and you have to say it was on the cards
well here it is again and the pace in which they break forward is devastating
it's so hard to defend against but i think the defending is poor how can the goalkeeper
be left so exposed with two players running at him mind you it's still a great team goal
so city get the match restarted can they come up with an equalizer having conceded riyad mahrez
rodriguez
not far from the ideal pass
well those stats tell us that psg haven't dominated the ball but when
they have won it back in midfield areas their counter-attacking has been excellent
they'll be happy with the way the game's going at the moment not a bit short with the clearance
riyad mahrez
an effective challenge
well he's beaten as man comprehensively and players waiting at the far post and there it
is the goal they wanted for security they lead by two now they can breathe that bit more easily well
here we can see it again look at the way he glides past the defender to create space for himself and
it ends up with a fairly simple finish certainly not much the goalkeeper can do about that
well a second goal for them here
guessing forward
struggling to get it away
grealish it's still alive
and so the halftime whistle is sounded here in manchester
and on the evidence of what we're seeing in this match kylian mbappe is a striker
at the peak of his powers you've got to say stuart well he's look sharp hasn't he yes he
scored a good goal but his general play has been excellent i've enjoyed watching him today and
so the second half of this champions league group stage match day one contest commences
gundogan
read it magnificently and intercepted
mbappe
showing good patience
and options in the center thumps clear
torres
riyad mahrez
ferran torres
always left his marker for dead
really good piece of goalkeeping there
options in the middle
possession one and the referee has decided to award the free kick to psg
now we have 30 minutes to go they've given it away
well as the stats confirmed city have controlled the ball but most of their
passing has been in deeper areas unless they start getting it into
their front players with better quality they'll struggle to turn this one around
possession seeded
and the counter looks on here options available
but nothing comes a bit
well we have 20 minutes left in this game
and the cross is very much on no two ways about it a wild wild attempt well it's so hard to get
this right and he just couldn't adjust his body quickly enough a change in the offing for city
kevin de
the ball with rodri
good looking sequence
and the keeper won't be complaining about that cross poor quality
and they deal with the threat this time
counter attacking very much adoption
akimi no spillage from the goalkeeper routine
well as we approach full-time paris saint-germain absolutely coasting to victory stuart well they've
been much the better side up to now some of their approach player has been excellent
they just need to control possession for these final few minutes to cap off a really good display
messi but i see
there it is victory more or less guaranteed now
well it's a goal you'd expect him to score but he
kept his pull and he put it away nicely he'll be happy with that
this is going to be three nil now
the referee has decided that two additional minutes are in order rodri and torres on the
ball well-timed tackle so full-time it is under morale boosting three points on the board to begin
the european campaign well you always want to get off to a good start and that's exactly what
they've done here now they can look forward to the next game they're in a great position
neymar such a difficult man to pin down as we saw in this game
your thoughts on his performance really did everything today his energy skill
and movement was just too good for those defenders it was a really good display