Enzo Maresca told to ‘stop experimenting’ with ‘not good enough’ Man City star after PSG call

Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca has been urged to stop playing one star out of his natural position after the player put in a poor first-half performance in the side’s Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain.

Maresca’s side were greeted by a raucous atmosphere at the Etihad in what was their first home game since the club were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018.

Former head coach Pep Guardiola was in attendance, while CEO Ferran Soriano and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak watched on from the stands.

Maresca opted to make three changes to the side that beat Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, with Iliman Ndiaye, Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly dropping out for Jeremy Doku, Josko Gvardiol and Abdukodir Khusanov, who all came into the starting XI.

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City got off to an awful start after Désiré Doué smashed the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma from range in the 13th minute to give the 2025 and 2026 European champions an early lead.

Doué turned provider two minutes later, looping a clever ball over City’s defence before Ousmane Dembélé finished calmly to double the visitors’ lead.

Donnarumma could arguably have done better for the opener, but it was Khusanov who bore the brunt of the criticism on social media with fans urging Maresca to keep him at centre-back rather than selecting him as a right-back.

One fan said: “I've said this time and again. Dunno why Pep and Enzo don't trust Nunes against the big teams. Khusanov does worse anyway.”

Another added: “Khusanov RB experiment didn’t work at all in the first couple of games, so he drops him and then puts him back at RB against the best UCL team?”

A third claimed: “As proven time and time again, Khusanov is not a right-back, and dropping Nunes is a bad decision, as he is the most important player we have.”

A fourth commented: “Maresca, just accept Bouaddi is a starter and Khusanov can’t play right-back, and we can save the season.”

A fifth wrote: “Either play Khusanov CB or don’t play him at all. How many times does he have to show he’s NOT A RIGHT-BACK?”

The Parisians made it 3-0 in the 32nd minute, with Vitinha smashing the ball past Donnarumma to further silence the Etihad crowd.

City return to action at home against Ipswich on October 17.

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Topics: Champions League, Enzo Maresca, Football News, Premier League

Luke has covered sport – including football, MMA, cricket, and boxing – for SPORTbible since 2024, having previously freelanced at Reach and JOE. When he isn't writing for SPORTbible, he's following Everton home and away. Luke also created and hosted a podcast interviewing guests from singers and bands to footballers and boxers.

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