Man City's Champions League Rollercoaster: Foden's Hat-Trick Either Side of a PSG Reality Check
Phil Foden's hat-trick against AEK Athens bookended a difficult week for Manchester City in the Champions League, sandwiched around a 4-2 defeat to PSG.
Achieng Otieno · 22 October 2026 · 2 min read
2 min read
Manchester City's Champions League campaign continues to swing between the impressive and the alarming, with a Phil Foden hat-trick in a 5-1 win over AEK Athens following hot on the heels of a 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
City opened their group-phase account with a solid 2-0 win over Porto before the PSG result exposed familiar defensive issues, despite a spirited second-half fightback. The response against AEK Athens, with Foden at his most clinical, was exactly the kind of statement City needed.
Three results, three different stories
- 2-0 win vs Porto
- 2-4 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain
- 5-1 win vs AEK Athens, Phil Foden hat-trick
The inconsistency has fuelled a broader question around the club this season: with Manchester City's position in the Premier League title race no longer a formality, there is a growing sense that the Champions League could end up as their most realistic route to silverware by the time the business end of the season arrives.
Foden finding his best form
For Foden personally, the hat-trick against AEK Athens is the clearest sign yet that he is rediscovering the form that has made him one of the Premier League's most gifted attacking players — timing that could prove crucial if City are to make a serious push in Europe this season.
