Vincent Kompany claims Manchester City are not panicking despite making yet another losing start to a Champions League campaign.
Advertisement
Manuel Pellegrini insists his Manchester City side did not deserve to lose against Juventus in their opening Champions League game.
Any injury to City’s captain would come as a massive blow to the Citizens at this early stage of the season, with the player crucial to City’s tight defence this season.
They have only been victorious five of their 15 Manchester fixtures in Europe’s top competition, but Pellegrini believed they deserved something for their efforts on this occasion. “At the end they took their chances, we were not lucky enough to score the goals and we paid the price”.
City eventually broke the deadlock 10 minutes after the halftime break when Vincent Kompany’s towering header deflected in off Giorgio Chiellini, who was credited with an own goal.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini admitted his side needed to be more clinical but refused to apportion blame, particularly with £49million man Sterling facing criticism for his misses. We played better than Juventus and we had three clear opportunities to score.
“I don’t think the result is just on one player”, he said. Still, City need to work on things if they want to have long run in the Champions League tournament.
“When I arrived here the team had never been in the Champions League and now we’re expected to win it, or at least challenge strongly”.
Advertisement
City lacked a cutting edge without star striker Sergio Aguero, although he made a late appearance off the bench despite having been initially ruled out with a knee injury. Maybe Juventus didn’t create so many chances but they had a strong finish. “We faced a team that knows how to defend and has plenty of Champions League experience. It’s important to see how he recovers in the next few hours”, Pellegrini, who is also sweating on the fitness of Raheem Sterling and David Silva, said of his Argentine goalscorer.
