Juventus deal Man City huge Champions League blow in 2-0 win

Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie scored to lead Juventus to a 2-0 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, delivering a significant blow to the English champions' hopes of securing a top-eight spot in the group stage of Europe's premier competition.


City, the 2023 Champions League winners, continued their troubling run of form, with only one win in their last 10 matches across all competitions.
"[Confidence] plays a big part. It's obviously a mental issue as well. You can see that. Sometimes, one action where we miss the ball or lose a duel, you can see our momentum drops immediately," City midfielder Ilkay Gündogan told Amazon Prime.
"It’s having a massive effect on us right now. At crucial moments, we are making the wrong decisions."

Vlahovic broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute when Kenan Yildiz delivered a cross, and the Serb's close-range header just crossed the line past City keeper Éderson, confirmed by goal-line technology.
"The whole team played an excellent match, we prepared well, and did everything necessary," Vlahovic told Amazon. "This result is amazing and can provide us with a great boost for the rest of the season."

Manchester City increased their tempo in a desperate bid to equalize, pushing forward aggressively. However, Juventus capitalized on a counter-attack, doubling their lead in the 75th minute when McKennie finished Timothy Weah's cross with a stunning volley.
Pep Guardiola's team wasted several chances to score, notably Erling Haaland's near miss late in the first half. Kevin De Bruyne threaded a beautiful through ball to Haaland, who breached the defense but saw his attempt to chip goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio blocked by an outstretched arm.

Gündogan also unleashed a powerful long-range effort that Di Gregorio managed to push wide with a full-stretch save.
"We did really, really well, not losing many balls as we did in the past, and got into good positions," Guardiola said.
"But Italian teams defend so deep and compactly; it’s not easy. They are masters of these kinds of situations."


With two games left in the Champions League group stage, Juventus climbed to 14th in the table, while City fell to 22nd, teetering near elimination.
Since November began, City have conceded more goals (21) across all competitions than any other team in Europe's top five leagues, marking the worst run in Guardiola's otherwise illustrious managerial career.

City will host Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday and continue their Champions League journey at Paris Saint-Germain on Jan. 22.
Juventus will next travel to Club Brugge on Jan. 21.