Over the last few years the world of football has been witness to a Manchester City side that has been exceptional in the Premier League, but when it came to the Champions League, they have been anything but that.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini reiterated the importance of having the same level of dominance in both the competitions, ahead of his team’s Group D clash against Juventus on Wednesday.
“Many people have criticised us in the Champions League and it is important that we have an achievement a we did this in qualifying [for the knockout stage] for three years,” said Pellegrini in the pre-match . press conference.
The City manager did say though, that he was quite pleased with his side’s performance in this season’s Champions League campaign so far, especially pointing out the performance against Sevilla in the last match.
“We didn’t allow them many chances, but more than that we played the same way we do normally in the Premier League, with a lot of possession and a lot of chances,” he said.
However, City are coming into this match on the back of a humiliating 4-1 loss to Liverpool FC at home. Their morale might be down, but they would certainly be trying to bounce right back to top form with a win in this match in order to cement their place at the top of Group D.
Allegri looking for the win to make it to Round of 16
Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus have been poor so far in the Serie A but have shown some form of late, slowly climbing their way up the table. It’s been a slightly different story for them in the Champions League though, as they are just one win away from cementing their spot in the Round of 16 and Allegri wants that win against Manchester City.
“It’s an important game that could determine who tops the group. We’ve got to aim to win as it’s the only result that guarantees us qualification,” he said. “We’ve got to look to play 95 minutes, aware that we’re up against one of the strongest sides in Europe.”