Osamagbe Imadiyi
Following a 2-0 Champions League loss to Juventus on Wednesday, Manchester City was further thrown into crisis. Weston McKennie and Dusan Vlahovic’s goals in the second half were sufficient for Juventus to defeat Pep Guardiola’s struggling City, who run the risk of missing out on the round of sixteen, for the seventh time in ten games.
English champions City have only amassed eight points from their six games in the redesigned league phase, putting them in 22nd place in Europe’s top club competition. With games against Paris Saint-Germain and Club Brugge left, City is now only one point above the bottom 12 spots and elimination, which would have been unimaginable at the beginning of the season. However, with just one victory since the end of October—against Nottingham Forest—City has fallen apart in less than six weeks and is far behind in the Premier League and Champions League.
A frustrating four-match run of draws for Juventus was also ended by Vlahovic’s header, his tenth goal of the season, and substitute McKennie’s exquisite volley with fifteen minutes left. This lifted the spirits of Juventus supporters who had been let down by Thiago Motta’s first few months as coach.
Going into Wednesday’s game, Juventus had drawn 11 of their 20 games across all competitions. However, a strong performance put them ahead by 11 points, and the game ended with fans cheering and waving flags in the Allianz Stadium stands. With two points from the top eight spots, Motta’s team is tied with Atalanta, another Serie A team, and has direct access to the round of 16.