Manchester City lost for the second game in succession as they were outclassed by Juventus in Turin, falling to a 1-0 defeat to leave them staring down the barrel of a tough second round tie against a group victor.
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Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini believes luck played a part in his side’s defeat at the hands of Juventus tonight.
“Hats off to the lads, they’ve gifted me qualification with a game to spare”, said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“We have to see what Juventus will do against Sevilla”. Paul Pogba strides forward, plays the ball out left, and Mandzukic shoves Otamendi away to turn in the cross at the back post.
Pellegrini, who revealed that midfielder David Silva will be assessed today, also added that Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany will be sidelined for two more weeks. Mandzukic finished the play but we had chances to draw.
A draw for the Italians in Spain would not be enough for City because Juve would go through on the head-to-head record having completed the double over them.
City have never finished top of their Champions League qualifying group and last season were eliminated in the knockout round by eventual champions Barcelona. We have to deal with that and bounce back in the next game.
The Serie A champions, still unbeaten after five games, now top the group with 11 points and visit Sevilla in their final match.
“We missed clear chances at the beginning of the game – Fernandinho on the penalty spot”.
They fell behind in the 18 minute when Mario Mandzukic beat Joe Hart after turning in a superb cross from Alex Sandro.
Raheem blow a golden chance to equalise when he shot wide on 79 minutes, and City must overcome Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Etihad Stadium on December 8 and hope Juventus lose at Sevilla to have a chance of finishing top.
There was a huge risk on a corner, but Buffon parried Fernando’s header off the line, then between the upright and goalkeeper Yaya Toure could’ve toe-poke it over.
City almost broke the deadlock in the fifth minute when Fernandinho’s powerful volley sailed inches wide of Gianluigi Buffon’s upright. When we adjusted to play the one up front, and a lot more solid in the middle of the pitch, I think we managed, we had that little spell when we got to three out of four finals.
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“We want to give an aggressive display from the beginning to bring home the result”.
