David Hytner was at the City of Manchester Stadium, and here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.

Enzo Maresca talks to TNT Sports. “We started quite good until the first goal … then we conceded the second after one minute so that created a little bit of bad feeling … so first half we struggled … second half we were much, much, much better and probably deserve something more … [the first half] was a bit strange to be honest … we were in the game … but it’s really difficult when you concede two goals in two minutes … but we used half-time … we adjust something … second half we created enough to deserve something more … we adjusted the way we were pressing … something on the ball … it was completely different … Luis [Enrique] was quite honest at the end of the game … he said ‘we have been quite lucky today’ … you have to be clinical … don’t lose the balance … Saturday [at home to Ipswich Town] is a Premier League game and we need to continue our run.”

This result puts PSG at the top of the nascent Champions League. Manchester City are down in 17th place. City host AEK next Tuesday, while PSG welcome Barcelona to the French capital on the same evening.

Désiré Doué speaks to TNT. “It was amazing today … the atmosphere here is amazing too … you want to play this type of game … we did good today … the second half was not quite as good but the result is here … we did good with the ball … we respect the tactics of the coach … when you win 3-0 at half time, you think you can relax, but this is the Champions League at the highest level … we have to be better defensively … be more focused.”

Not sure how there were only (!) six (!!) goals in the end. That could have ended 2-10, 6-6, 8-6 or anything in between. Manchester City were much improved in the second half, but paid the price for not turning up for the first, during which PSG at times went into full Harlem Globetrotters mode. The reigning champions were outrageously good; the half-time scoreline of 0-3 didn’t flatter them at all. City will take succour from the performances of two-goal Erling Haaland, plus the second-half subs Iliman Ndiaye and Ayyoub Bouaddi, but on this evidence PSG are going to take some stopping, especially if they can keep their concentration for the full 90. Very early doors, of course, but the three-peat looks very much on for Luis Enrique’s side, who celebrate with feeling in front of their fans.

90 min +3: Kvaratskhelia hasn’t done much since coming on. Not by his lofty standards. He tries to address that with a power-dribble down the middle, then a probe down the right, but there’s nothing doing.

90 min +1: Ah well, Torres will always have East Rutherford.

89 min: … but Nunes had made the slightest of contact. Torres to take. Loud boos for the former City man as he prepares to take …

88 min: … but VAR is going to take a look …

86 min: Haaland rolls a pass into the PSG box from the left. Semenyo bustles. He can’t get a shot away, not at first, but eventually slices over from ten yards. Big miss. Or did that take a nick? It took a nick. Corner. From which …

84 min: A PSG double-switch as Hernandez and Beraldo replace Ruiz and Zaire-Emery.

83 min: Nunes races into the PSG box down the right and crosses low for Haaland, who slides in at the far stick and hook-forces the ball goalwards … only for Safonov to sensationally block on the line. Wonderful play all around.

82 min: Luis Enrique comes to the touchline and gives his players some beneficial advice, utilising letters such as F and JEFF.

80 min: Semenyo threads a long-range drive towards the bottom right. Easy for Safonov.

78 min: Neves nearly releases Torres down the inside-left channel with a mid-pirouette side-footed volley. Not quite, because Khusanov slides in to flick clear. That would have been some assist.

77 min: Hakimi has the chance to release Torres down the middle, but looks for Kvaratskhelia on the left instead. Bad decision. Kvaratskhelia enters the box and drags a tame shot across Donnarumma and wide right.

76 min: PSG respond by replacing Dembélé and Akliouche with João Neves and former City striker Ferran Torres.

74 min: The referee Sven Jablonski is shoved over from behind by Fernandez. Hilarity ensues. While that’s going on, Gvardiol crosses from the left. Haaland wins a header at the far stick and pings the ball off the top of the crossbar. But no matter, because …

72 min: Anderson drives in from the left and shoots from distance. It’s deflected over for another City corner. Fernandez’s delivery isn’t so good this time, but PSG fail to clear their lines, and the ball drops to Semenyo, whose low shot is blocked by Pacho. Then the flag pops up for offside.

71 min: … and now Fernandez pings a long-range shot off the junction of right-hand post and crossbar. This game is proper daft.

70 min: Fernandez takes what is effectively a corner from the left. Gvardiol flicks a header towards the top right. It’s heading in, but Mendes eyebrows off the line and clear!

69 min: Anderson jinks his way past Zaire-Emery near the left-hand corner flag. He’s scuttling clear along the byline when he’s cynically brought down by the man he’s just beaten. Zaire-Emery goes into the book.

68 min: Fernandez slips Haaland into a bit of space down the left. Haaland slices wildly over the bar in a state of great irritation.

66 min: If this isn’t bad enough for City, here comes the best winger in the world, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. He replaces Désiré Doué.

65 min: That goal has taken all of the air out of the stadium … and from Manchester City’s sail. Semenyo tries to whip up the storm again, nipping past Pacho on the right before rippling the side netting. Safonov had it covered.

64 min: Haaland tries to hit back immediately, but his thunderous shot from an angle on the right sails harmlessly wide left.

62 min: Haaland has reached the 37-goal mark in 60 Champions League matches; for the record, it took Lionel Messi 80.

61 min: Semenyo is booked for a crude lunge on Mendes.

60 min: Semenyo feeds Nunes on the overlap down the right. Nunes crosses long for Ndiaye, who shins his shot from eight yards. Now it’s PSG’s turn to look a bit ragged.

58 min: Fernandez crosses long from the left. Haaland flicks on. The ball sails wide right, but any touch from either Guehi or Khusanov, both sliding in, would have surely cut the deficit in half. City have been fantastic since the break.

57 min: Ndiaye has been an electric eel since coming on at the break. He sizzles his way down the left again, trying to force home from a tight angle. Safonov does just enough.

56 min: Haaland is now Manchester City’s number-one goalscorer in Champions League history, by the way. His 37th in the competition for the club puts him one ahead of Sergio Agüero.

55 min: Semenyo jigs in from the left, seeing Pacho off with ease, only to lift his shot over Safonov and off the crossbar. The ball drops to Haaland, who air-whiffs his shot from eight yards! How on earth did he not score?! But his blushes are spared, because turns out Semenyo was offside at the start of the move anyway.

54 min: That’s got the crowd going for the first time tonight. And how! And then …

51 min: A PSG free kick near the centre circle. Nuno Mendes goes for goal, having spotted Donnarumma off his line. Not quite, but full marks for sass and ambition.

49 min: Semenyo dribbles artfully down the right and curls a cross towards Fernandez at the far stick. Fernandez has to convert this sensational cross … but slaps a downward header wide left. City should be on the scoresheet, and speaking of which, here’s Matt Dony with a quip he describes himself as the “lowest of low-hanging fruit … if City carry on playing this badly, it could end 1-114!”

48 min: Haaland barrels down the left and clips a low pass across to Semenyo, whose drive from the edge of the box is deflected high and wide. Haaland couldn’t get the ball out from under his feet to shoot himself. Anyway, the resulting corner comes to nothing, but City have flown out of the blocks here, clearly having been given the half-time what-for.

46 min: Two of the subs quickly into the action. Bouaddi creams a diagonal towards Ndiaye on the left. Ndiaye cuts into the box before hoicking harmlessly over.

City get the second half started. They’ve made a triple change, hooking Cherki, Doku and Dias for Nunes, Bouaddi and Ndiaye.

Half-time postbag. “That 30-odd minutes of football from PSG is some of the best I’ve ever seen. At this level football transcends sport into something approaching art. Just amazing to watch” – Martin Gamage

“Say what you will about the tenets of the Qatari government, but at least they built a team worth the money. From spending a decade as Europe’s most dependable clown show, they’re now quite possibly the best club side since peak-Messi’s peak-Barcelona” – Walter Sobchak Kári Tulinius

“I thought I would enjoy City getting hammered, but it’s hard to muster anything above indifference. It’s all so artificial right now, like trying to get outraged over Cellophane. Bring on the charges/irrefutable evidence so we can all just move on. (I’m watching BSC Preussen v Altglienicke in the German fourth tier this weekend, now that’s proper football)” – Tim Woods

“With everything that is going on, if City score tonight will it be annotated as Asterix the Goal against the Parisians?” – Andy Gordon

“I’ve been pondering on a metaphor for City’s matches and I think they are like entries in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Entertaining, beautifully crafted and attracting fervent fans, but only plausibly real, not actually real at all. Pep’s team were sometimes described as playing football from another planet - maybe they are now” – Gary Naylor

“People derided Arteta’s approach during the final but you simply can’t go toe to toe with this PSG team” – Arthur Simiyu

“Good plan, City have decided to be abysmal to take the pressure off and give the media a break!” – Chris, Corfu

“City need to spend seriously big money in January” – Andrew Goudie

“I sincerely hope that Enzo Maresca is only getting paid once for this sham…bolic performance tonight!” – Justin Kavanagh

45 min +2: … as has Doku, to be fair, and he cuts in from the left only to scuff a drive straight at Safanov.

45 min +1: Semenyo shoots. Blocked. He’s been City’s best player, which sounds like damning with faint praise, but he’s been lively.

45 min: This is the first time City have conceded three first-half goals at home in the Champions League. They’ll be delighted only two minutes of stoppage time are to be played.

44 min: … Guehi tries to hack clear, but only manages to slice back towards his own goal. Fortunately for him, straight at Donnarumma. City’s defenders have been all over the place.

43 min: Mendes takes on Dias down the left. The ball clanks off Dias’s arm and out for a corner. From which …

41 min. … but this is better too. City win another corner, this time down the left, and from that, Guehi and Gvardiol get in each other’s way as they attempt to head goalwards from close range. The ball squirts harmlessly wide left.

40 min: Semenyo jinks down the right and enters the box along the touchline. His low cross-cum-shot is turned around the post by Pacho, but more through luck than design. The resulting corner leads to a rare period of City pressure, but Haaland can’t get a shot away when the ball nears him. PSG finally clear their lines. Better from City, though their bar is set so low this evening it may as well be subterranean.

38 min: Zaïre-Emery dribbles towards the City box with great elegance. He sits Khusanov down, but then can’t decide whether to look for Dembele or shoot himself. He does neither. But PSG launch another attack, and Hakimi shoots yet again. Straight at the keeper.

36 min: Hakimi’s shot from a deep position on the right bobbles inches past the left-hand post. Donnarumma had it covered.

34 min: Fernandez bursts into the PSG box from the right, then goes over. He wants a penalty, but he’s hardly been brushed by Ruiz. Meanwhile, adding insult to injury, the PSG fans are now performing the Poznan.

33 min: The City players hold a quick meeting. They need to sort this out and quick. Pep with the thousand-yard stare in the stand; on the touchline, Marseca’s gaze clocks at least 1,001.

30 min: Zaïre-Emery’s drive is blocked by Guehi. Akliouche then brushes Semenyo off the ball. The referee’s whistle goes, awarding City a very generous foul. Akliouche, livid, lashes the ball into the net from long range. It won’t count, obviously, but neither is he booked.

29 min: Vitinha is given a little bit too much time to the left of the City D. He doesn’t catch his shot properly, and it’s claimed by Donnarumma before it can squeak into the bottom left.

27 min: PSG again with the metronomic passing, their fans again with the olés. The City of Manchester Stadium is otherwise pretty quiet, save for some pensive mumbling.

25 min: … but City come again, through Doku down the left. Doku wedges a cross into the middle for Haaland, who from close range should do much better with his header than send it sailing back through the six-yard box. The ball clanks out for a corner, from which nothing comes.

24 min: Semenyo crosses poorly from the right, looking for Haaland. As the ball sails high over the bar, the PSG fans – en fête – cheer in the hearty style.

23 min: Nuno Mendes should release Fabian Ruiz into acres down the right. But he clanks a seemingly simple pass straight at Guehi. Had he made it, Ruiz was one-on-one with Donnarumma and City were facing a world of pain.

21 min: PSG are passing it around to a chorus of “olé!”s from their fans. To be fair, City and their players have heard worse recently.

19 min: Haaland takes matters into his own hands with a power-bustle down the middle. He reaches the box, but he’s been pushed a little to the left by Pacho, who then blocks the shot with a well-timed lunge … and nothing comes from the resulting corner. City and their fans a little bit stunned here.

17 min: One minute and 39 seconds elapsed between the goals. And it could be three, because Vitinha has a shot aimed for the bottom left deflected off Khusanov’s ankle and towards the bottom right, making things much easier for Donnarumma. On the touchline, all the blood drains from Enzo Maresca’s face.

12 min: It wasn’t a penalty, but City do get a free kick, because at the end of the phase of play, Semenyo was fouled out on the left. Fernandez sends the set piece low towards the near post, where Safanov clumsily bundles the ball around his post. From the corner, Safonov punches the ball onto his own crossbar, then Semenyo skies a shot over the bar from six yards! But Guehi is penalised anyway for a shove on the keeper.

10 min: Cherki bursts into the PSG box down the left. Marquinhos sticks a leg across him. Cherki goes over. There’s contact – and a VAR check – but turns out Marquinhos got a touch on the ball. No penalty.

8 min: Akliouche looks to have won a corner off Gvardiol down the right, but the linesman awards a goal kick. From the restart, Semenyo gets a bit careless and allows Zaïre-Emery a shot. Donnarumma has it covered.

6 min: Semenyo surges down the inside-right channel but his flick towards Cherki on the wing is no good. But that’s City’s first sortie into enemy territory.

4 min: The PSG fans are making all of the noise. City’s supporters are subdued, perhaps all tuckered out after partying hard at Anfield.

2 min: Cherki is caught dozing by Dembélé, who sends Doué scampering down a cul-de-sac on the left. Cherki will be pleased Khusanov was on point there.

PSG, in their blue shirts with red central panel, launch the kick-off in their usual rugby-union style. City in their sky blue.

The teams make it onto the pitch … after a fashion. City left their visitors waiting in the tunnel for a couple of minutes. Then the Champions League theme, to the usual chorus of disgust. As loud as the Uefa-focused opprobrium usually is? Not sure; it’s almost as though City fans have their minds on a different admin-infused opponent. Whatever, the atmosphere seems a little subdued; everyone’s been through the ringer, one way or the other, in recent weeks. Sure it’ll get going in a minute when the match eventually kicks off (late).

Pep Guardiola is indeed in the house. He’s sat behind City director of football Hugo Viana in the executive box. A mosaic in the stand: CTID. City Til I Die.

Enzo Maresca speaks to TNT. “It’s a special night … Champions League night against the best team in Europe … hopefully we can win the game … I know Pep [Guardiola] will be here but he was not at the training ground [earlier today] and I did not speak with him … by showing support to the club even when he is not here, for sure it’s a special moment for him tonight also … he is back to his home … also for the fans, they will be happy to see Pep here tonight … to beat PSG you need a complete performance … on and off the ball … we are going to create some chances and concede some chances … we need to find the right balance.”

A reminder of what happened the last time these clubs met.

A Guardian exclusive courtesy of Kiran Stacey and Matt Hughes.

Manchester City go strong in the wake of their 3-0 win at Anfield. Jeremy Doku, Abdukodir Khusanov and Josko Gvardiol replace Iliman Ndiaye, Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly in the starting XI. PSG haven’t quite gone so strong, in so much as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is only on the bench. But then again he can come off it later when everyone else is a bit knackered, so it’s swings and roundabouts. Ferran Torres, erstwhile of City, is also named as a sub.