Desire Doue (13th minute), Ousmane Dembele (15th), Vitinha (32nd) and Akliouche (62nd) scored for PSG, while Erling Haaland netted twice for City in the 53rd and 75th minutes.
An independent panel found City broke Premier League rules by inflating revenue by more than $1 billion over nearly a decade, and the club has appealed against the verdict.
The 78 goals scored across Tuesday and Wednesday's matches beat the 71 scored on matchday three of the league phase last season.
Manchester City's first home match since an independent panel found it had broken Premier League rules was played on Wednesday 14 October, the second matchday of the 2026-27 Champions League league phase. The panel found City guilty of almost all the charges against it, including 114 breaches of financial rules, and it found the club had inflated its revenue by more than $1 billion over nearly a decade. City has appealed, and possible punishments include a huge fine, points deductions or expulsion from England's top flight. Before kick-off the club staged a fireworks display and a highlight reel that included Sergio Aguero's title-winning goal in 2012, and City had beaten Liverpool 3-0 in the Premier League on the Sunday before. Pep Guardiola returned to the Etihad for the first time since stepping down as City manager at the end of last season, watching from the stands behind chief executive Ferran Soriano. The visitors, the back-to-back European champions, are Qatari-owned, while City is owned by an Emirati group.
Paris Saint-Germain were in command early, and their football was the main story of the first 45 minutes. Desire Doue opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and Ousmane Dembele doubled the lead in the 15th. Vitinha made it 3-0 in the 32nd minute, and that was the score at half-time. PSG created numerous other chances in the first half, and the margin could have been wider. City had a penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, PSG's former goalkeeper, when Ferran Torres went to the spot.
City came out with more urgency after the interval, and the second half was far more open than the first. Erling Haaland scored in the 53rd and 75th minutes, while Akliouche scored for PSG in the 62nd minute to make it 4-2. City's new head coach Enzo Maresca, who replaced Guardiola about three months ago, said the side could learn from the evening. Maresca added that the team had to keep going even after conceding two goals within two minutes. City's next match is a Premier League fixture against Ipswich on Saturday, 17 October.
Across the Tuesday and Wednesday matches, 78 goals were scored, the most on a regular matchday since the league phase format began in 2024-25. That total beats the 71 goals scored on matchday three last season. Aston Villa won 6-0 at Fenerbahce, Stuttgart won 3-0 at Slovan Bratislava, and Liverpool also collected its second win of the phase. Bodo/Glimt beat Borussia Dortmund 1-0 with a goal early in the second half.
Data from the article text
Pollar is free and carries no ads in the text. Its members keep it going.
Support PollarFootball · Manchester
Haaland scored twice for City, but PSG led 3-0 at half-time and went on to win 4-2 at the Etihad on Wednesday 14 October, City's first home match since the Premier League verdict against it.
AI text based on reports by Courrier international, BBC, N-tv and other publishers. Changed .