Juventus 2-0 Manchester City: Vlahovic and McKennie deal visitors qualification blow

Manchester City’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stages took a huge blow after they were beaten 2-0 by Juventus on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola’s side have now won just one of their last 10 games in all competitions, with this their seventh loss during that run.

It leaves them 22nd in the 36-team table with their final two games coming against Paris Saint-Germain, who are also at risk of elimination, and Club Brugge.

An opening period that lacked clear-cut chances sprung into life before the interval, but Erling Haaland saw his effort from close range saved by Michele Di Gregorio.

But the hosts got themselves in front eight minutes after the restart through Dusan Vlahovic’s header, though Ederson will feel he should have done better at his near post.

And with City pushing for an equaliser, with Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne going close, Juventus were able to double their tally against the run of play.

Substitute Weston McKennie marked his return from injury with a goal, firing in Timothy Weah’s cross to move the Serie A side up to 14th in the standings.

FULL-TIME | Defeat in Turin.

2-0 #ManCity | #UCL pic.twitter.com/ROvVglP0LR

— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 11, 2024

Data Debrief: Trouble in Turin

After a run of six defeats in seven games, City had shown something like their old selves when they beat Nottingham Forest, but have since failed to build on that triumph.

And they failed to create many chances at the Allianz Stadium, managing an expected goals (xG) total of 0.97 from their 12 shots, despite having 68.9% possession.

For the first time in his managerial career, Guardiola has failed to win three consecutive matches in the group / league phase of the Champions League (D1 L2). For the Citizens, meanwhile, it’s their longest such run since the 2014-15 campaign (4 – D2 L2).

They have gone eight games without a clean sheet away from home in all competitions; the joint-longest such run of Guardiola’s managerial career (also a run of eight in October 2016).