ShareManchester City’s first home match after the guilty verdict sees them face fellow sovereign wealth fund-owned Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.By Neel ShelatManchester City creating a siege mentalityManchester City have remained absolutely defiant throughout the investigation into their alleged financial breaches, and that does not appear to be changing after the guilty verdict. While everyone awaits the completion of the appeal process, the club’s internal approach seems to be to create an us-against-the-world mentality. They have openly acted this way throughout the process, and certainly showed it quite clearly in their post-match reaction to the win over Liverpool.For other teams and fans alike, though, this creates a rather jarring situation. Particularly in the Premier League, no one is quite sure as to how meaningful Manchester City’s games are this season, and therefore can’t fully react to the on-pitch result. The Champions League is a slightly different beast since the current investigation falls outside UEFA’s jurisdiction, though any domestic sanctions could well affect City’s future qualification to the premier European competition as well.Paris Saint-Germain recovering from another slow startThings are looking a lot rosier for Qatar Sports Investments’ Paris Saint-Germain project, even if their start to the season has not been up to the mark. In the bigger picture, they will be delighted to have captured consecutive Champions League titles after ‘the big one’ eluded them for so long. In the process, they have become accustomed to such slower starts before kicking into gear around the turn of the year.Luis Enrique’s side did win their Champions League opener 6-1, but their domestic form hasn’t been quite so scintillating. They failed to win their first three matches of the Ligue 1 season and are yet to put together a statement performance. The Ligue 1 holders only narrowly defeated Brest and Marseille in recent weeks, and allowed newly-promoted Le Mans back into the game before overcoming them last weekend.Team newsThe only expected absentee across both camps is Senny Mayulu, who is out with a short-term thigh injury. Both head coaches otherwise have full-strength squads to pick from.Key playersErling Haaland remains on fire for Manchester City. He has found the back of the net in each of his last six appearances for them, taking his season tally to eight goals. The Norwegian international also scored three times in four games for his national team over the last couple of weeks.In support of him, Antoine Semenyo will have an important job to do going both ways on the wing. At the back, former PSG shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma could well be called into action by the French champions’ star-studded attack.Speaking of PSG’s front line, the dynamic Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will definitely be one to watch. Summer signing Ferrán Torres has slotted in well, notably netting a hat-trick in the previous Champions League round. On the right, Achraf Hakimi will have a role to play in defence and attack.PredictionWhile this is a heavyweight clash, the nature of the Champions League’s Swiss model format means that it does not have a particularly great deal riding on it. So, the two teams may produce a relatively open score draw.(Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from the Champions League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.Add FotMob as a preferred news source on Google by clicking – here.Manchester City’s first home match after the guilty verdict sees them face fellow sovereign wealth fund-owned Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.By Neel ShelatManchester City creating a siege mentalityManchester City have remained absolutely defiant throughout the investigation into their alleged financial breaches, and that does not appear to be changing after the guilty verdict. While everyone awaits the completion of the appeal process, the club’s internal approach seems to be to create an us-against-the-world mentality. They have openly acted this way throughout the process, and certainly showed it quite clearly in their post-match reaction to the win over Liverpool.For other teams and fans alike, though, this creates a rather jarring situation. Particularly in the Premier League, no one is quite sure as to how meaningful Manchester City’s games are this season, and therefore can’t fully react to the on-pitch result. The Champions League is a slightly different beast since the current investigation falls outside UEFA’s jurisdiction, though any domestic sanctions could well affect City’s future qualification to the premier European competition as well.Paris Saint-Germain recovering from another slow startThings are looking a lot rosier for Qatar Sports Investments’ Paris Saint-Germain project, even if their start to the season has not been up to the mark. In the bigger picture, they will be delighted to have captured consecutive Champions League titles after ‘the big one’ eluded them for so long. In the process, they have become accustomed to such slower starts before kicking into gear around the turn of the year.Luis Enrique’s side did win their Champions League opener 6-1, but their domestic form hasn’t been quite so scintillating. They failed to win their first three matches of the Ligue 1 season and are yet to put together a statement performance. The Ligue 1 holders only narrowly defeated Brest and Marseille in recent weeks, and allowed newly-promoted Le Mans back into the game before overcoming them last weekend.Team newsThe only expected absentee across both camps is Senny Mayulu, who is out with a short-term thigh injury. Both head coaches otherwise have full-strength squads to pick from.Key playersErling Haaland remains on fire for Manchester City. He has found the back of the net in each of his last six appearances for them, taking his season tally to eight goals. The Norwegian international also scored three times in four games for his national team over the last couple of weeks.In support of him, Antoine Semenyo will have an important job to do going both ways on the wing. At the back, former PSG shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma could well be called into action by the French champions’ star-studded attack.Speaking of PSG’s front line, the dynamic Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will definitely be one to watch. Summer signing Ferrán Torres has slotted in well, notably netting a hat-trick in the previous Champions League round. On the right, Achraf Hakimi will have a role to play in defence and attack.PredictionWhile this is a heavyweight clash, the nature of the Champions League’s Swiss model format means that it does not have a particularly great deal riding on it. So, the two teams may produce a relatively open score draw.(Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from the Champions League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.Add FotMob as a preferred news source on Google by clicking – here.