Manchester City returned to the welcoming surroundings of home for the first time since being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations awash with defiance and presenting an 'us against the world' united front.

Pep Guardiola was back at the place he decorated with success for a decade in a public show of support to embattled chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano, the Catalan a low-key presence clad in a flat cap sitting a row behind the pair.

If his appearance was relatively under the radar, the fact that he chose a game certain to attract a global audience to make his return was heavy with significance.

Guardiola is ignoring the outside noise to back his former bosses to clear their name on appeal after the guilty verdict passed down by an independent commission.

The stand bearing his name was emblazoned with a 'CTID' - City 'Til I Die - mosaic, while the build-up to kick-off saw a display of fireworks and pyrotechnics worthy of several rock concerts.

The strategy to show an unabashed City ready to face down any enemy was going well, until the game kicked off and Champions League holders Paris St-Germain produced a ruthless first-half reality check cloaked within the brutal beauty of their football.

With City providing a dramatic backdrop off the pitch, the game more than matched the setting. A second-half revival ensured embarrassment was avoided - and instead gave us a classic as PSG eventually prevailed 4-2.