Thursday’s briefing: Man City and Chelsea face uphill battle in Champions League

Manchester City and Chelsea both face huge tasks to keep their Champions League hopes alive after suffering heavy first-leg defeats in the last 16, while Arsenal’s 100 per cent record in this season’s competition was halted.

City were undone against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium by a brilliant first-half hat-trick from Federico Valverde and Chelsea went down 5-2 after conceding three late goals against holders Paris St Germain at Parc des Princes.

Arsenal remain favourites to progress before next week’s return leg, but it took a late Kai Havertz penalty to rescue them a 1-1 draw in Germany against Bayer Leverkusen.

Pep Guardiola: Man City have ‘not much’ chance against Real

City face a steep uphill task to reach the quarter-finals after Federico Valverde’s stunning first-half hat-trick propelled Real to a 3-0 win in the first leg of their tie at the Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday.

It could have been even worse for City had Gianluigi Donnarumma not saved a penalty from Vinicius Junior after the break.

Guardiola said: “It is a bad result, we cannot deny it. The first goal was not well defended and after that the quality they had with Valverde and the other players, it was a difficult result.

“But obviously 3-0 is better than 4-0. We have six days. We will recover, go to West Ham, then with our people we will try.”

Liam Rosenior admits Chelsea paid price for ‘crazy’ end

Liam Rosenior admitted Chelsea shot themselves in the foot after their Champions League hopes were shredded by a late capitulation against Paris St Germain.

A 5-2 defeat in the Parc des Princes leaves the Blues facing a likely last-16 exit in a week’s time but the manner of the loss was painful.

They had twice recovered from a goal down and looked like surviving an intriguing match before Vitinha struck PSG’s third in the 74th minute and Chelsea fell to bits after that.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia helped himself to two late goals and there was the unfortunate sight of Pedro Neto manhandling a ball boy to the ground in a struggle for the ball before Enzo Fernandez, the vice-captain, visibly turned on his goalkeeper after another mistake which led to a late disallowed goal.

Rosenior, whose side looked to have done enough to take a hard-earned result back to Stamford Bridge as Malo Gusto and Fernandez cancelled out goals by Barcola and Ousmane Dembele, said: “A very disappointing result on an evening where for much of the game we were really happy.

“The last 15 minutes were crazy. That’s on me. We need to be better in moments when setbacks and mistakes happen. You need to stay calm in the moment, me included. It’s a painful one because for 75 minutes we were in the tie.”

Mikel Arteta: Arsenal need to improve in second leg

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal would have to improve when they face Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

The Gunners, who topped the league phase after eight wins from eight games, needed a last-minute penalty from Kai Havertz against his former club to escape Germany with a 1-1 draw after trailing to Robert Andrich’s second half header.

“I liked that emotionally we understood what we had to do, but the level of execution obviously has to be better,” said Arteta. “And it will be better in the second leg. We’ll adapt a few things and move on.”

On Havertz’s late rescue act, Arteta added: “Football is a funny game and it brings special stories. Him coming back here after such a long time, being part of this club, to come here and score such an important goal, I think it’s a big moment.”

Harry Redknapp does not expect Tottenham call

Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has played down his chances of a return to the club but admits he would take the job if asked.

Igor Tudor’s position as Tottenham boss is under intense pressure after another awful night for the Croatian in the Champions League.

Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust called for “emergency action” after a chaotic 5-2 loss at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday saw Tudor become the first Tottenham boss to lose his first four games in charge, while the club have lost six games in a row for the first time in their history.

Redknapp told the Press Association at Cheltenham: “Would I go back? Of course I would, but I doubt very much it’s going to happen.”

What’s on today?

Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are both in Europa League action in the first legs of their last-16 ties.

Unai Emery’s Villa play at Lille and Vitor Pereira’s Forest face Midtjylland at the City Ground.

In the Conference League, Crystal Palace take on Larnaca at Selhurst Park in the first leg of their last-16 tie.