Man City 1-2 Juventus

by James Nalton at Eastlands

MANCHESTER CITY may have had a perfect start the new Premier League season, but a loss at home to Juventus in their Champions League opener on Tuesday was a reminder of past troubles in Europe.

They’re yet to concede and have won all five games in the league, but against the Italian champions they failed to display the confidence and conviction of a side in good form.

Wilfried Bony led the line in the absence of Sergio Aguero, who was only fit enough to make the bench, but the City players looked like they haven’t quite worked out the Ivorian’s strengths.

Bony showed glimpses of his ability to bring others into the game and nearly got ahead of his marker on a couple of occasions, but “nearly” isn’t enough at this level.

As City manager Manuel Pellegrini said after the game: “When we have chance we must score as in Champions League games, the differences are very slight between the teams.”

Kevin de Bruyne also sat on the home side’s bench, and he could be an important cog in the sky blue machine if the club are to challenge on multiple fronts.

Juventus also have the odd headache, having lost several influential players over the summer, not least Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez.

It was vital that they hung onto Paul Pogba, and the midfielder put in a commanding performance on Tuesday, producing an excellent cross for Mario Mandzukic to score Juventus’s equaliser.

Brazilian midfielder Hernanes sat in the “Pirlo role,” but the 30-year-old offers something different to the departed Italian, and regularly regained possession for his team. Striker Alvaro Morata and the evergreen Gianluigi Buffon were also impressive.

Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri heaped praise on his keeper, saying that “Buffon is an extraordinary goalkeeper, perhaps the best ever in the history of football.”

As far as the rest of Group D is concerned, Sevilla are likely to challenge for one of the top two spots, in what is another tough group for City. Picking up all six points against a Borussia Monchengladbach side, who’ve had an awful start to the season, is a must.