Désiré Doué opened the scoring before Ousmane Dembélé doubled PSG’s advantage two minutes later. Vitinha made it 3-0 before the interval, leaving Manchester City with a substantial recovery job against the defending European champions.
Haaland pulled one back eight minutes into the second half, but Maghnes Akliouche restored PSG’s three-goal cushion. Haaland scored again to give City hope, although further chances and a late penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma went unanswered.
Maresca believed the difference between the halves offered important lessons, particularly after City lost their organisation when the visitors scored twice in quick succession.
“From tonight’s game, we can learn many things,” he said. “Even if we concede two goals against the best team in Europe, we need to do the right things.
“I continue to learn from the players because I just arrived three months ago.
“We concede the first goal and then after one minute, concede the second one against this kind of team it’s already difficult when you are at 0-0.
“In two minutes you concede two goals and we lost a bit of balance, distance between players. We struggled but then in the second half we made changes, adjusted something and we were much better.”
The City manager also praised PSG’s approach, while maintaining that his team were close to competing with them.
“They are brave, I know the way they want to press. On the ball they are dynamic. I like to play against them.
“We are there; my feeling is we are close. In the first half, we struggled because we conceded two goals and inside the pitch you think ‘Oh my god.’
“Luis [Enrique] at the end told me they had been quite lucky. We lost, we can learn from that and move on.”
PSG’s coach agreed that the second half had become dangerous as City committed players forward in pursuit of a comeback.
“It was a thrilling match. We anticipated this type of game, with both teams pressing constantly, playing at a frantic pace,” Luis Enrique said. “We overcame that pressure in the first half and deserved to be ahead, but I don't like seeing such a 3-0 lead at half-time. The opposition take a lot of risks after that and you think you've won. We went through some tough times. If you have bad luck, you lose this match.”
He added that PSG had benefited from fortune after struggling to convert opportunities in domestic matches.
“I was talking with [assistant] Rafel Pol in the second half. We had the luck we didn't have in the first few Ligue 1 matches. Losing 3-0... City took a lot of risks. It was difficult to manage.”
Luis Enrique resisted the idea that the result sent a wider message to Europe’s contenders.
“What message? The message is [from] the team that wins the European Cup. It's not important to be the best at a particular stage of the competition.”
City’s comeback demonstrated their attacking threat, but PSG’s first-half precision proved decisive.