Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said his team would have to improve the efficiency of their finishing after a 2-1 home defeat by Juventus in their Champions League opener.
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A Giorgio Chiellini own goal had put the Premier League side ahead in their first match of the 2015-16 competition, but last season’s finalists hit back through Mario Mandzukic and Alvaro Morata.
The Chilean, who is 62 on Wednesday, said: “We have 15 more points to play for, so it depends on how we play and what result we get in our next game“.
PELLEGRINI: “We played better football but Juventus had the experience to defend and scored lovely goals”. So, in this case, I think we have a lot of problems with different players but I have 100% trust in the squad we choose.
Another critical moment came after 75 minutes, with the score at 1-1, as City skipper Kompany was forced off with a calf injury.
A host of other top European sides, such as Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, will also open their Champions League campaigns on Tuesday, and we’ll be bringing you all the latest scores and updates from around Europe below.
“Because in Champions League games the differences are very slight between the teams, especially against such a strong team as Juventus”.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side faces a very hard challenge next, when they take on Bundesliga’s Borussia Monchengladbach at Borussia Park on September 30. Our first game is at City and we will try to get points out of that, but it is going to be tough. There was no panic and we did not feel we did not know what to do.
Once again it was a night where City, dominant domestically with five wins out of five in the Premier League, still looked like they are struggling to convince themselves they belong in the exalted company of the Champions League.
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Meanwhile, Juventus have had a lackluster start to their domestic season in Italy, managing just one draw and two losses from their opening three games.
