“It was a match with chances at both ends – we could have gone 2-0 up, and straight after they could have made it 1-1”.
Advertisement
Manchester City, who are now second in Group D of the Champions League with nine points from four games, will next face Southampton in a Premier League fixture on Saturday.
Midfielder Steven Davis says he is expecting a backlash on Saturday when Southampton travel to Manchester City who have lost back-to-back games. “At the moment we must wait to see what Juventus do against Sevilla”.
Manchester City were clearly so impressed by one Juventus player in particular during their Champions League meeting on Wednesday that, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, they decided to make a bid for him straight after the game. Dybala flourished in a supporting role, Stephan Lichtsteiner was always a threat on the right while the three-man defence restricted City’s most risky striker Sergio Aguero to one real scoring chance.
Hart was excellent throughout and it will represent a sizeable blow should he be unavailable -although the goalkeeper himself thought it was nothing serious.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men were already guaranteed a place in the knockout phase prior to the clash in Turin but the result has left them at risk of another potentially tough draw.
The City boss confirmed it was too early to tell whether the England global was set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines but suggested his leg pain could be related to a back problem that has periodically troubled Hart over recent seasons. “But for if for some reason he can not play I have trust in Willy [Caballero]”. The veteran Juve goalkeeper also denied Aguero just before the break.
“We must do better, as we have to put together consistent growth and learn how to control the various moments of the match, as we still have a lot of young and inexperienced players”.
“I think we missed quite a few important injured players, but we have a fantastic squad”.
Pellegrini also expects Kompany to be out for at least a fortnight with his calf problem while there is still no definitive news on Silva’s ankle injury.
Advertisement
He added: “His movement, vision and intelligence are as good as I’ve seen and I hope he continues to grace the City team for many more years to come”.
