Juventus vs Man City LIVE: Champions League reaction as Vlahovic and McKennie goals earn fine win
Juventus 2-0 Man City: Pep Guardiola’s team slumped to a seventh defeat in 10 games
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Your support makes all the difference.Pep Guardiola’s side suffered a seventh defeat in 10mgames when they were beaten 2-0 away at Juventus leaving them on the verge of an early Champions League exit.
For all the pre-match talk of legacy and a fighting mentality, City looked nervous and slow as they attempted to assert some control on the game by maintaining possession. Too often they failed to create openings for Erling Haaland and the striker only had one good opportunity to score in the first half but was denied by Michele Di Gregorio.
Playing with a mid-low block worked to frustrate City and Juve opened up more in the second half, pushing higher up the pitch and opening the scoring through Dusan Vlahovic’s headed effort. City’s defence, which at times looked shaky, failed to properly clear the danger and were punished.
The hosts added a second with a superb counter attack that was finished off by American duo Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie with the former Leeds United midfielder putting the cap on a fine night for the Serie A side.
Relive the Champions League action with our live blog below:
History beckons
Champions of Europe in 1985 and 1996, Juventus have also lost seven European Cup finals including five in the Champions League era – more than any other club.
Returning to the European top flight
Juventus have returned to the competition after missing out in 2023/24.
The previous season was their 11th consecutive Champions League campaign, and the first time they missed out on the round of 16 since 2013/14 as Juve finished behind Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain in their section.
Juventus vs English teams
Juventus were unbeaten in nine matches against English teams (W5 D4) before a 1-2 home defeat by Manchester United in the 2018/19 group stage but have now lost two of the last four.
‘City must win one game'
Guardiola expanded on City’s recent dip in form and claimed that they must only focus on winning the next game they play, which is this evening against Juventus.
“We are not in a position – when you have these results in the last seven, eight games – to talk about winning games in plural.” he said, “We have to win a game first, and after that we can focus on the next one.”
Guardiola on City’s injury crisis
Pep Guardiola was missing seven potential starters through injury or illness for the draw against Crystal Palace and he said: “It’s football, and we know that this season will be like this.
“What I said to the players (was) ‘Don’t feel sorry. Please accept the challenge’. It will be more difficult, but that’s what it is and maybe at the end we will have more satisfaction, in the way that we are going to (respond) to these problems, than maybe in the other seasons that we won the title.
“All teams want their players always fit and ready and unfortunately since the beginning that could not happen, and it’s going to be, I think, for longer. But one way or the other, we are going to try.”
Pep Guardiola says Man City’s only aim is now to ‘survive the season’
Pep Guardiola demanded his Manchester City players “accept the challenge” as the defending Premier League champions look to “survive the season.”
City fell behind twice in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park, where Rico Lewis scored a second-half equaliser before he was sent off, ruling him out of next Sunday’s Manchester derby.
Pep Guardiola says Man City’s only aim is now to ‘survive the season’
A draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday added to a difficult run for the defending Premier League champions
Juventus line-up
Juventus XI: Di Gergorio: Danilo, Gatti, Kalulu, Savona; Locatelli, Thuram; Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Vlahovic
Subs: Perin, Pinsoglio, McKennie, Adzic, Fagioli, Weah, Douglas Luiz, Rouhi, Mbangula
Man City line-up
Man City XI: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Doku, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Hudson, Kovacic, Savinho, Nunes, Foden, Wright, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, McAtee, Wilson-Esbrand
Juve looking to back up Villa draw
The 0-0 draw at Aston Villa last time out was Juve’s first game against a Premier League club since a 4-0 loss at Chelsea in 2021/22 – their heaviest defeat by an English team.
Can they back up that result with a positive outcome against Man City as well?
‘We are young and can improve'
More from Motta’s press conference where he explained how his young team still have areas to improve. He added: “We are a young team that can improve in every aspect of the game.
“We have shown great character, we grow because we have great solidarity on the pitch. It is a Champions League game, two big clubs facing each other. We have to concentrate on what we have to do, everything else is relative.
“What we do on the pitch is the most important thing.”
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