Young guns prove PSG can deliver without Mbappe

City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged his team was outplayed.

"We have to accept it. In transitions we could not cope with them, they were faster," he said. "I give credit to PSG. When one team is better I have no problem to accept it. All of them, they played really good. It's not a specific (player)."

Mbappe's move to Madrid forced Enrique to improvise with his lineups all season.

This time, 19-year-old winger Desire Doue played as a makeshift striker even though center forward Ramos was available for this game where both wealthy state-backed teams — the United Arab Emirates (City) and Qatar (PSG) — were at risk of failing to advance to the knockout stage.

City led 2-0 after 53 minutes but PSG was level by the hour mark after some inspirational play down the left from Barcola. He skipped past Savinho before picking out Dembele near the penalty spot, and then the 22-year-old Barcola equalized by squeezing a shot in off the left post after Doue's effort came back off the crossbar.

The diminutive Neves stooped to head in a freekick from the right in the 78th minute.

Dembele also hit the crossbar with a rasping shot with 20 minutes left and PSG had two other goals ruled out for offside.

PSG's players sprinted to celebrate with their fans at the final whistle and club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi clenched his fist.

"This team has a lot of things going for it. This match will strengthen my players, they're young and haven't had too much experience in games like this," Enrique said. "This team won't ever give up, even when they're two goals down."

So maybe losing Mbappe won't be so bad after all.

"We're a young team but a team with character," Al-Khelaifi told broadcaster Canal Plus. "A lot of players doubted our team, but I always had confidence in them."

Al-Khelaifi praised Enrique's impact.

"I think we have the best coach in the world," he said. "We are playing with character, identity, DNA."

Agencies Via Xinhua