Mandzukic Fires Juve Into Last 16 With City Win

― Reuters picTURIN, Nov 26 ― Massimiliano Allegri woke up today blissfully free of criticism over his team selection following Juventus’ Champions League win over Manchester City which sent them into the round of 16.

Speaking to the media after the game, Pellegrini said, “Both teams played well and we were unlucky to lose this game”.

He made some smothering saves from a numerous of Liverpool attacks and kept his side in the game longer than they really deserved to be.

City and Juventus have sealed qualification into the knockout stage of the competition and will now battle it out to see who wins the group. He marked the occasion by netting PSG’s third goal, with Laurent Blanc’s players thrashing their Swedish opponents 5-0 in Group A. He was forced off towards the end and was replaced by Willy Caballero.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini put a positive spin on his side’s chances but few punters would bet against Juve not claiming at least a draw away to Sevilla next month having already given the Spaniards a footballing masterclass in a 2-0 victory in Turin last month.

There was no escape after 18 minutes as Alex Sandro, also impressive on the right, curled in a hanging cross and Mandzukic shook off the attention of Nicolas Otamendi to to volley past Hart.

Pellegrini, who will be without goalkeeper Joe Hart but welcomes back David Silva for the visit of Saints, added: “I prefer to be qualified now”. The Christmas fixture list is so important in deciding the Premier League so the Manchester club will want to have their best players available.

Juventus booked their spot in the Champions League round of 16 courtesy of Mario Mandzukic’s goal at home against Man City. City will now wait for a full assessment although Hart later described the hamstring problem as “nothing, just a little tight”. We have to deal with that and bounce back in the next game.

Fernandinho went closer for City moments later after Juventus struggled to clear a corner, but his effort flew narrowly wide of the left upright. “There is one game more and the group is not finished”.

In a match which only sporadically burst into life, Stefano Sturaro hit the post for Juventus and Raheem Sterling squandered another excellent chance for City 10 minutes from time.

If he [Pellegrini] loses sleep tonight it’s not because they think they’ll probably finish second in the group now I think it’s more that his team had three or four guilt-edged chances.