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GOAL! Juventus 1-2 Manchester City (Kalulu og 26)
Savinho, teasing the Juve defence down the right, slips in Nunes on the underlap. Nunes flashes a low cross into the six-yard box. Kalulu, facing his own goal, tries to swivel and whip the ball out for a corner, but instead of sending the ball wide left, slots it straight ahead and into his own net from close range. That’s an appalling error, though the build-up by City was of the free-flowing variety, so consider the mistake forced.
25 min: Savona is thankfully fine to continue, and play restarts. City are immediately on the front foot, Doku cutting in from the left and teeing up Rodri, whose shot is blocked. But no matter (again), because …
24 min: Everyone uses the break in play to take on some water.
23 min: Rodri sizes up options 25 yards from the Juve goal. He’s got options either side but decides to shield the ball and draw a clumsy foul out of Gonzalez instead. Free kick in a central position. Marmoush batters it straight into the startled face of Savona, who goes down and requires some treatment.
21 min: A burst of speed from Kostic down the left. For a second it looks like he’ll break clear into the box, but Nunes sticks to his shoulder and eventually deflects the ball out for a corner … and there’s another set piece wasted.
19 min: Akanji passes long to nobody in particular. Di Gregorio doesn’t rush to return the ball upfield. Everyone seems happy enough to take a breather.
17 min: Doku nips in between Costa and Kalulu down the left. He cuts back for Marmoush, but before a shot can be taken, Savona arrives to concede a corner. An important intervention, and not a costly one either, because Silva scuffs the subsequent set piece.
16 min: This is absurdly open. Ederson is required to race out of his box to clear with Gonzalez attempting to get on the end of a long ball. His clearance finds Silva, who would have released Marmoush down the middle had Savona not come across to clear.
14 min: Reijnders sashays into the Juve box down the inside-left channel before lashing a wild effort into the side netting. Attacks are besting defences at the moment.
13 min: City re-establish authority with more metronomic passing. Silva tries to find Marmoush with a wedged pass down the inside-right but Savona extends a leg to scoop clear.
GOAL! Juventus 1-1 Manchester City (Koopmeiners 11)
Ederson passes out recklessly from the six-yard box. He’s looking for Silva, but he’s way off target. Koopmeiners nips in ahead of the sliding Silva, strides into the box down the inside-left channel, and slots into the bottom left. What a cock-up by Ederson, but that’s a fine, confident finish by Koopmeiners. Good fun, this!
10 min: Juve nearly hit back immediately, Costa making ground down the right and crossing low for Vlahovic, who swipes at the ball from eight yards but fails to connect properly. Bad miss. But no matter, because …
GOAL! Juventus 0-1 Manchester City (Doku 9)
Yep, Ait-Nouri’s hit the ground running at his new club all right. A pass slipped down the inside-left channel for Doku. It’s perfectly weighted, so it’s easy for Doku to take a first touch inside past Kalulu before curling into the right-hand side of the net. A simple but gorgeous goal!
8 min: City stay patient. Suddenly Ederson launches long. Marmoush nearly gets clear down the right but is forced to turn tail by Kelly.
6 min: City slow things down after that brisk start. It is boiling hot after all. On that subject … “I think you made a typo in Cramping World. Stay hydrated!” Peter Oh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the isotonic beverages.
4 min: Ait-Nouri turns Locatelli inside out down the left and crosses long for Silva, whose downward header is awkwardly kicked off the line by Di Gregorio. The ball pings back to Silva but he’s swarmed and the chance is gone. Ait-Nouri’s impressive start at his new club continues apace.
3 min: … and after that brief sortie, City quickly get into ping-it-about mode. Juve pressing but they can’t get a sniff.
1 min: Nunes tries to release Savinho down the right but overcooks the pass, allowing Di Gregorio to race out of his box and blooter clear. Had the pass been better, Juve would have been in a spot of trouble, because there was a lot of space for Savinho to run into.
Juve get the ball rolling. It’s hot in Orlando, 33 degrees centigrade. City wearing their sky-blue shirts with white sash, Juve in their black and white stripes with pink piping.
The teams take to the pitch at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. You know the drill by now. One by one, like a less pumped version of The Price Is Right. Not long until kick-off, so come on down!
Pep Guardiola talks to DAZN. “Rodri will not be for 90 minutes but one day he had to start … everybody has to play … I prefer Erling for the second half to be fresh … for the movement … fresh energy for the game … we have qualified, that is the first step … we play every game to try to win.”
Is he worried which side of the draw City end up in? “No … when you play in the last 16 you will play the best teams … when we won the Champions League we played the toughest opponents.”
Manchester City have only beaten Juventus once in seven previous meetings. That victory came in the first round of the Uefa Cup in September 1976, Brian Kidd scoring the only goal of the first leg at Maine Road. Much good it did the Citizens, who lost the return leg in Turin 2-0, Gaetano Scirea and Roberto Boninsegna with the goals at the Stadio Comunale. Names that evoke some proper old-school Italian glamour, right there. Since then, it’s been slim pickings for City, with two draws and four defeats against the Bianconeri. The latest of those losses came just seven months ago, during City’s downright strange mid-season misfire. An opportunity for City to right some historical wrongs tonight.
The big news for City: Rodri starts a match for the first time since succumbing to injury against Arsenal last autumn. Or is this the big news: Erling Haaland is back on the bench. Take your pick.
Juventus have also made surprising changes up front. Kenan Yıldız, who already has three goals to his name in this tournament, and two-goal Francisco Conceição both drop to the bench. Dušan Vlahović is not a bad replacement, to be fair.
The teams
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Kelly, Savona, Kalulu Kyatengwa, Alberto Costa, Kostic, McKennie, Locatelli, Vlahovic, Gonzalez, Koopmeiners.
Subs: Pinsoglio, Garofani, Daffara, Rugani, Bremer, Cambiaso, Gatti, Rouhi, Douglas Luiz, Thuram, Adzic, Milik, Muani, Francisco Conceicao, Yildiz.
Manchester City: Ederson, Matheus Luiz, Ait Nouri, Akanji, Dias, Rodri, Savio, Silva, Reijnders, Doku, Marmoush.
Subs: Bettinelli, Ortega, Stones, Ake, Gvardiol, Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Gundogan, Foden, Cherki, Bobb, Gonzalez, Haaland.
Preamble
Manchester City have to beat Juventus tonight if they’re to win Group G. But what the reward for that will be is anyone’s guess. We know they’d play the runners-up in Group H, but given the manner in which Real Madrid have so far underwhelmed, and Al Hilal have impressed, there are no certain outcomes there, and that’s before we bring Red Bull Salzburg into the equation. So with the winners of Group H awaiting the Group G runners-up, and any combination of 1-2-3 possible in Group H later tonight, it’s a toss of a coin as things stand. City and Juve might as well treat this as a dry run for the knockouts, and what will be, will be. Kick-off in Orlando, Florida is at 8pm UK time, 3pm local. It’s on!
1. Juventus P2 W2 D0 L0 F9 A1 Pts 6
2. Manchester City P2 W2 D0 L0 F8 A0 Pts 6
