Post Match Thread: City v Juventus

[inbetween]

I thought we did more than enough to deserve a win, definitely a draw. Had Sterling converted his 2 chances and Bony scored his we would be talking about this very differently but unfortunately one team defended brilliantly and took every single chance they got. Juventus had a strategy which worked but they relied on good fortune at times, I know we did for Kompanys goal but still, a bit better finishing for at least half the chances and we would of been 3-0 up by half time. I don't even think Aguero would of mattered in this game because Bony suited their physical defenders much better, it was just about taking chances and unfortunately we didn't take them whereas they had 2 real shots on target and beat us 2-1. BT made out their first goal was fantastic but it wasn't, it was a great cross and Mandzukic just managed to touch it, something out of nothing really, their 2nd you can't do much about beyond blocking the shot.

I think we maybe should of had Navas in there instead of Nasri to give us more energy but I don't think it would of changed the result, not really much would because their defensive strategy would of worked against 99% of teams in the world. They played in the final last year and they did the same to Real Madrid in the semi final what they did to us, they were exceptionally organised and they did what they needed to do on the break. I don't think we deserved to lose at all but we have to learn in this competition that it is ruthless and not making your mark on the scoreline will see you punished very quickly when you come to make mistakes.

 

[Man city fan 72]

Had to work last night and had misfortune to listen to Alan Green on 5 live. What a bitter hateful bloke. Every lull in the action was used to slag off the club, players or the fans.
Got home and watched a different match. 2 competitive skillful clubs. Result could have gone either way. Some great saves by Buffon. 2 goals from Juve that wouldn't have gone in on another night.
OK, not our most fluent performance but you can only play as well as a good opposition let you. No need to panic

Yeah, I heard that that grease ball was up to his usual City hating tricks. They love it though when we play in the champs league, as it gives them their only ammo to beat us with.

 

[Damocles]

Changing gears slightly. Did the Mancini chant go up during the match ? Came across loud and clear on French TV.

The rags still sing about Cantona and it isn't disrespectful to Rooney. He's a legend here for better or worse and the fans acknowledge him from time to time. All big clubs sing about ex players and ex managers.

 

[BillyShears]

The rags still sing about Cantona and it isn't disrespectful to Rooney. He's a legend here for better or worse and the fans acknowledge him from time to time. All big clubs sing about ex players and ex managers.

We were doing well in the match at the time so wasn't that arsed. More curious because it was weirdly so clear on th TV feed it sounded canned.

What did you make of the match itself mate?

 

[davymcfc]

Felt very different to previous years. In my opinion we were the better team and didn't deserve to come away empty handed. We created plenty of good chances and got our noses in front. The equaliser came out of the blue and morata's winner was a touch of class. I think taking sterling off stifled our game as we took away our pace and then we were forced in to taking Kompany off. Bony looks rusty this season but looked sharper in the second half. I honestly think we can take some positives from last night and not let our heads drop. Buffon is a legend by the way, incredible player and leader.

 

[BlueDruid]

To disregard juve as an average team is disrespectful for a team that reached a champions league final only last year

Disrespectful? Get a grip.

Last night they were average, they weren't up to Bayern/Barca standard from the games I've attended at the Etihad.

Tevez has left now and he used to score them a lot of goals, plus the others that have moved on have weakened the team imo

 

[BillyShears]

Felt very different to previous years.

Yeah exactly. Glad I'm not the only one who felt that.

 

[CityPar]

Disrespectful? Get a grip.

Last night they were average, they weren't up to Bayern/Barca standard from the games I've attended at the Etihad.

Tevez has left now and he used to score them a lot of goals, plus the others that have moved on have weakened the team imo

And yet they won without having to try too hard. In Europe we're the bang average side.

 

[CityPar]

Felt very different to previous years. In my opinion we were the better team and didn't deserve to come away empty handed. We created plenty of good chances and got our noses in front. The equaliser came out of the blue and morata's winner was a touch of class. I think taking sterling off stifled our game as we took away our pace and then we were forced in to taking Kompany off. Bony looks rusty this season but looked sharper in the second half. I honestly think we can take some positives from last night and not let our heads drop. Buffon is a legend by the way, incredible player and leader.

Agree we didn't deserve to lose but to be honest I felt we were pedestrian even with Sterling in last night. There wasn't enough intensity in our play for me. Yes there were positives just not enough of them. And now we have it all to do as I reckon we'll have to win at least 2 away games ideally one being in Italy. Not a great position to be in.

 

[pavelsrnicek]

Sterling had an ok game, was a good outlet and worked hard in defence but poor finishing. He may not be 100% fit after his strain but otherwise I would've kept him on as he is a very good out ball.
Bony needs goals badly, he had two class touches, the little feint turn (for his awful shot) and the dummy to put in Silva were excellent but his finishing was dire. Not sure if he's lacking confidence or fitness but there were a couple of good crosses last night I though he should be getting to.
There was a collective failing for the first goal leading to no pressure on Pogba to put an excellent cross in.
Nasri and Silva were way below par. Thought De Bruyne should've had more time or possibly Navas at 1-0.
Juve defended very well and Buffon made 3 or 4 super saves but we need to be so clinical in Europe and we weren't last night.
Despite all the talk it was a little better European performance for 70 mins then 20 mins of the bad old days.
Looked a little short of ideas against a well organised defence however we were patient though we need to find easy to up our tempo against teams sitting deep.
Fernandinho was excellent. Yaya was a bit stifled but he still worked hard covering back on occasion.
If anything the smarter, clinical and more experienced side won through two excellent goals combined with resilience and good fortune.

 

[Phil1]

The rags still sing about Cantona and it isn't disrespectful to Rooney. He's a legend here for better or worse and the fans acknowledge him from time to time. All big clubs sing about ex players and ex managers.

I think the circumstances are a bit different when it comes to singing songs for ex players. Whilst I agree with you that Mancini deserves to be recognised, the fall out from his sacking and the subsequent appointment of Pellegrini left a bitter pill in the mouths of many.
I suppose enough time has passed now for a rendition or two of the Mancini song, it depends on the timing though. Singing it when we're losing as opposed to us winning can have different connotations.
We should certainly acknowledge legends past and present though.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Two teams operating at a very high technical level, fine margins always the case when it comes to such.

Thought they did a number on us in terms of defending certain areas of the pitch and we still lack that extra conviction when teams of a certain level are diligent enough to close the spaces between our lines.

Watching from South Stand Level 3 this season has certainly given me a new-found appreciation for this level.

Juventus were far from spectacular and if we had taken our chances we would be saying this morning that it was a proper European performance.

I saw nothing wrong with the tactics or formation, just let down perhaps by Sterling and Bony when the crucial moments came.

Bony was caught out, perhaps, in terms of being alive to certain situations, and Italian defenders will take his type of forward all day, rather than those trying to get in behind with pace.

We lacked pace on the night, but agree with Pellegrini, there was very little wrong outside of concentration levels at crucial moments.

Thought Nasri, Sagna, Fernandinho and Kolarov all came out with Kudos.

Made it very hard for ourselves once again getting out of the group.

 

[Damocles]

We were doing well in the match at the time so wasn't that arsed. More curious because it was weirdly so clear on th TV feed it sounded canned.

What did you make of the match itself mate?

Frustrating but people are over thinking it. Juve were clinical, had three chances and scored twice. We were wasteful and when they sat deep we ran out of ideas.

Have been disappointed with the lack of off the ball runs from Nasri and Bony this week.

Juve did an excellent job on keeping Silva out of the game , so much so that I suspect they spent a lot of time in the classroom watching videos of him as they had all his often used technical moves completely scouted.

The slow pace came from lack of attacking movement which came from Bony unable to bully their defence and Silva being completely neutralised. Our wide players were then predictable as they ran in straight lines or waited for an overlap.

With that said on another day it's a 3-0 win and Juve despite their recent form are one of the best teams in Europe and their tactical defensive performance mixed with a clinicalness up front won them the game.

Not too concerned to be honest as we didn't learn anything new. We lack forward inventiveness without Aguero which we knew. When Silva is marked we don't have the quality in center mid on the bench to bring on and start deeper which we already knew and Sterling is a teenager who isn't yet the final product which we already knew.

I don't recall us ever winning our first home game in the CL do those who are flapping about the group are somewhat moronic.

Thought Pellers did fine with what was available to him.

 

[leighton]

By the time the B Monchengladbach game comes around I think we will have worked out the best way to go in the games in the champions league. The next 3 games will see many changes to the team. With the league cup coming up Willy normally gets a game or 2. I think Saturday we should stick with the team we had last night with Aguero in for Bony and KDB in for Nasri the rest should hold onto there places. Can see Otamendi playing a couple of games soon time to bed in our new signings asap and give KDB a run from the start. Otamendi might have to wait until the league cup game for a start. What we need to do is get a goal for Bony in front of goal he looks like he has no confidence at the moment. Maybe playing a 4-4-2 will help him on Saturday but with Nacho putting pressure on him he could do with a goal badly. I think we will bounce back and put in a top showing and win the game. 1 game against the finalist of the champions league last season and we got beaten by them at home. A hard lesson to be learned there from it but we all know were playing well and will bounce back. The players know last night they let themselves down and will have a point to prove in the coming games. That they deserve to play in the champions league and to fight to win the title.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Chelsea and arsenal lost to monaco and psg respectively last season, to say they are better than juve is dumb

By your delusional reckoning, Chievo are also better than City.

For the record, Juventus would do well to finish top four in the Premier League.

That's based on the amount of games, lack of rest time, and general competitiveness across the division.

The top Italian and Spanish teams are assisted by their associations and afforded rest at crucial junctures of the season.

 

[BillyShears]

Frustrating but people are over thinking it. Juve were clinical, had three chances and scored twice. We were wasteful and when they sat deep we ran out of ideas.

Have been disappointed with the lack of off the ball runs from Nasri and Bony this week.

Juve did an excellent job on keeping Silva out of the game , so much so that I suspect they spent a lot of time in the classroom watching videos of him as they had all his often used technical moves completely scouted.

The slow pace came from lack of attacking movement which came from Bony unable to bully their defence and Silva being completely neutralised. Our wide players were then predictable as they ran in straight lines or waited for an overlap.

With that said on another day it's a 3-0 win and Juve despite their recent form are one of the best teams in Europe and their tactical defensive performance mixed with a clinicalness up front won them the game.

Not too concerned to be honest as we didn't learn anything new. We lack forward inventiveness without Aguero which we knew. When Silva is marked we don't have the quality in center mid on the bench to bring on and start deeper which we already knew and Sterling is a teenager who isn't yet the final product which we already knew.

I don't recall us ever winning our first home game in the CL do those who are flapping about the group are somewhat moronic.

Thought Pellers did fine with what was available to him.

Cheers. Find it hard to disagree with any of that. Thought it was harder for Sami in particular to make those runs in behind because there was so little space to run into. Bony though probably should've done more to stretch them but then that isn't his game.

On Silva. Yes he was well marked. But he was also poor in executing some basics which was very frustrating.

 

[flb]

Fernandinho was an absolute animal last night, one of his best ever games in a City shirt, we have a big big problem in this competition if Aguero isnt available.

 

[Pitchell]

By your delusional reckoning, Chievo are also better than City.

For the record, Juventus would do well to finish top four in the Premier League.

That's based on the amount of games, lack of rest time, and general competitiveness across the division.

The top Italian and Spanish teams are assisted by their associations and afforded rest at crucial junctures of the season.

What utter nonsense. People go on about the pace and power of the PL and continental teams being unable to deal with them, but then continental teams regularly deal with it with relative ease, like Juve and PSV did yesterday.

Aren't you the guy who was adamant that City would be signing Pogba?

 

[bugsyblue]

Frustrating but people are over thinking it. Juve were clinical, had three chances and scored twice. We were wasteful and when they sat deep we ran out of ideas.

Have been disappointed with the lack of off the ball runs from Nasri and Bony this week.

Juve did an excellent job on keeping Silva out of the game , so much so that I suspect they spent a lot of time in the classroom watching videos of him as they had all his often used technical moves completely scouted.

The slow pace came from lack of attacking movement which came from Bony unable to bully their defence and Silva being completely neutralised. Our wide players were then predictable as they ran in straight lines or waited for an overlap.

With that said on another day it's a 3-0 win and Juve despite their recent form are one of the best teams in Europe and their tactical defensive performance mixed with a clinicalness up front won them the game.

Not too concerned to be honest as we didn't learn anything new. We lack forward inventiveness without Aguero which we knew. When Silva is marked we don't have the quality in center mid on the bench to bring on and start deeper which we already knew and Sterling is a teenager who isn't yet the final product which we already knew.

I don't recall us ever winning our first home game in the CL do those who are flapping about the group are somewhat moronic.

Thought Pellers did fine with what was available to him.

This is pretty much spot on. The one observation I would add to this though is the frustration in Pellegrini not observing how Juve's defence and organisation was stifling our play and adjusting accordingly. Navas would have done a good job last night - frustrating as he is - and would have provided the attacking movement we lacked. Also he should have brought on another central midfielder in the second half to contain Juve and stifle their play - Pogba had so much space at time.

That all said I'm not worried and think we will still qualify. I think we will beat Juve in Turin!

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

The tactical maps are up:

http://www.uefa.org/newsfiles/ucl/2016/2015671_tl.pdf

Think looking at how Juve doubled up in full back areas, working in trios to get round the edge of our midfield and behind Fernandinho and onto the back 4, just stifled us and gave us an out ball. As we got narrow they used the width, and Cuadrado on the out ball became the most fouled player. They clearly knew where our weaknesses were and exploited them, and once they needed a goal turned it up a gear and pulled us apart with ease, tactically undone, Pelle got it wrong with team selection and by sticking to his principles which have come undone again, too much space to expose and Juve piled on certain channels knowing it would hurt us. Fernandinho then ended up spending all game fouling people rather than being on the front foot, bar brief flurries, and they wore Nasri, Yaya and Silva down and exploited it in the final quarter of the game. Juve then jumped into a settled, clean 2 banks of players to see the game out, we had phases of trying width and a shape, and then it falling into being narrow again. Our best spells seem to coincide with us keeping that wider shape better, I stand by my view that Pelle got it wrong picking Nasri, Silva and Yaya together, I think that's the weakness Juve exploited all game.