Juventus handed Manchester City their latest defeat on Wednesday with a 2-0 win at home in UEFA Champions League action, ensuring the English champion's poor run of form would include just one win in their last 10 games.
A drab first half in which both sides mustered just one shot on target each gave way for a much more entertaining second half, with Dusan Vlahovic giving Juventus the lead in the 53rd minute. City stepped up their attacking effort and took six shots in the next 20 minutes, but were fairly ineffective after putting just one on target. It provided the perfect opening for the Italian side, who were able to nick a second as U.S. men's national team standouts Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie took advantage of City's casual defending, with the latter scoring in the 75th minute.
The result leaves City in 22nd place, barely inside the top 24 spots that will ensure a berth in the knockout rounds. Juventus, meanwhile, rose to the 13th in the biggest win of Thiago Motta's spell in charge of the club so far.
Elsewhere in Europe, Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund in a thrilling 3-2 win while Arsenal notched a straightforward 3-0 victory over Monaco and AC Milan beat Crvena Zvezda 2-1 even amidst a mourning injury crisis for the Italian side. Liverpool finished Matchday 6 atop the table again and remain the only team with a perfect record.
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That's a wrap in Turin, where Juventus executed their gameplan skillfully and pulled off a big win over Manchester City. It's a strong sign of the vision under new manager Thiago Motta, but for City, alarm bells are undoubtedly ringing. They lacked any cutting edge and precision in Italy, and not for the first time during the last 10 games, only worsening their crisis.
75' Manchester City may have dominated play since the game's opening goal, but it's Juventus who strike again in a goal that will please many USMNT fans. Weah plays a casual ball into the box for his club and country teammate McKennie, who marks his first game in three weeks with a confident strike from close range. Manchester City are in real trouble now, and now could have just one win 10 games.
72' The game state has shifted firmly in Manchester City's favor, with the visitors taking six shots since Vlahovic scored about 20 minutes ago. Juventus are up for the challenge of absorbing City's pressure and can boast of the results so far -- City have put just one shot on target so far, mustering only 0.34 expected goals so far.
64' Doku has the ball on the left side of the box and sends the ball towards the far post, where Haaland looks to be in a perfect position to slot the ball home and level the score. The thing is, though, Haaland doesn't move for the ball, wasting another opportunity for the equalizer.
59' Grealish plays a smart pass to Silva in the box to create a great chance for an equalizer, but Silva doesn't hit the ball with much strength and Danilo's able to block the shot with his knee and kill the opportunity. City look a bit more aggressive now than they did before Vlahovic's goal, but we'll see if they can translate that into meaningful chances.
54' The deadlock is finally broken by Vlahovic, who takes advantage of a mistake from Ederson. Gatti's near goal and hits a nice strike, but it comes off the post and goes back into play. In the end, it's Vlahovic who scores from close range thanks to Ederson spilling the ball on the goal line and letting it slip just past the goal line.
No changes for either side at the break.
There's not much to say about this one. City have a massive possession advantage but neither side has been able to muster much in terms of meaningful goalscoring opportunities. The best chance of the half so far was arguably Haaland's chance that was met by a big save from Di Gregorio, but both teams have left a lot to be desired in terms of entertainment value -- or creating chance.
40' Manchester City create their best chance of the game by slipping the ball to Haaland, who's not far from goal and hits a terrific shot. Di Gregorio was up for the task, though, coming up with an equally impressive save by raising his left arm at the last moment to keep the game scoreless.
37' It's a slow buildup, but Manchester City created something promising in and around the penalty area, though Juventus had enough bodies in the box to force a meek shot out of Haaland this time. Di Gregorio had no problem handling it, but the glimpse from City maybe teases that they, too, might finally be finding their form in this game.
32' Locatelli beats Walker on the left flank and suddenly, City are scrambling to keep Juventus at bay. It's Yildiz who ultimately has the ball at his feet but City are able to stifle the play. It feels like the momentum is slowly shifting Juventus' way after a pretty dull opening half-hour, though we're still just at one shot so far today.
29' Juventus get the better of City's midfield, which has not really been present so far today, and make a run towards goal. In the end, Vlahovic has to chase a pass that would've landed perfectly for his left foot if he could've just gotten there, but he's unable to connect with the ball.
24' Manchester City still haven't taken their first shot of the game, but they're starting to build something here. De Bruyne and Doku had a moment in the box, with the latter sending a promising cross into the box before Juventus steered the ball out of danger. Moments later, City had numbers in the box -- including Haaland and Silva -- and may have benefitted from a touch going the wrong way.
20' Yildiz has a shot from outside the box and at an angle, choosing to take a curling shot from distance. He misses the target but he wasn't far off, forcing Ederson to dive for the ball before it heads out of play.
16' City earn a freekick a few yards from the penalty area and de Bruyne steps up to deal with it, but the Juventus wall is well-equipped to send the ball out of the box. City regain possession quickly but are unable to do much with the ball in the immediate moments after the freekick. City are very much in charge of this one with 70% possession, but we're still waiting for the first shot of the game.
10' Conceicao goes to ground after an awkward fall and receives some medical attention, later walking off the pitch for further examination. Though it was not initially clear whether or not he'd be cleared to return, he's now back on the pitch for business as usual.
The game is officially underway in Turin.
The first games of the day are officially complete, with the home sides picking up big wins.
The results put Lille in sixth place and Atleti in 10th, with the caveat that there are still several more games to go before Matchday 6 ends.
Chuck Booth bets that today's clash between Juventus and Manchester City will not exactly be a high-scoring one, in part because of the former's tactical preferences and the latter's poor run of form heading into this one.
Today's game between Juventus and Manchester City feels like it's going to be a closely-contested affair that could prioritize the midfield battle. Ilkay Gundogan could be an important figure in this game as a result, and that's why he's Francesco Porzio's pre-game pick for man of the match.
Pep Guardiola goes with some expected names including Haaland, while Ederson returns to the lineup after a spell on the bench. As for Juventus, their USMNT duo starts on the bench but leading goalscorer Vlahovic cracks the lineup. Here's a look at the lineups.
Juventus starting XI: Di Gregorio, Sadona, Gatti, Kalulu, Danilo, Locatelli, Thuam, Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Yildiz, Vlahovic
Manchester City starting XI: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis, Gündogan, De Bruyne, Silva, Doku, Grealish, Haaland.
James Benge picked Kevin de Bruyne as the player to watch in today's clash between Juventus and Manchester City, especially since the visitors are targeting what would only be their second win in 10 games.
The theme of Tuesday's Champions League action was course correction, with Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain picking up some much-needed points as they eye spots in the top 24 and passageway to the knockout phase. The question for today's round of fixtures, then, is if Manchester City can keep that trend going. They have just one win in their last nine and with just two wins out of five in the Champions League, City are much closer to the bottom 12 teams than they'd like.
Pep Guardiola's side will no doubt target a big win at Juventus today, but their opponents might have what it takes to keep them at bay and pick up a statement-making result of their own. Stick around for buildup to the day's big game, as well as updates once the match begins in Turin.
