Man City unlucky to lose at Juventus – Pellegrini

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is extremely anxious about number one goalkeeper Joe Hart, who limped off the field during their 1-0 Champions League defeat to Juventus, according to reports from the Mirror.

Juventus booked their spot in the Champions League round of 16 courtesy of Mario Mandzukic’s goal at home against Man City.

“Hats off to the lads, they’ve gifted me qualification with a game to spare”, said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.

“We had chances to score but at the end of the day, it was 1-0 for them and we have to bounce back in the next game”.

They may also have been disappointed to see Juan Cuadrado start on the bench again rather than the right side of the attack.

“There’s one game more and the group is not finished”.

Even if they beat Borussia Monchengladbach at home in their last game at the Etihad on Tuesday week, they need unbeaten group leaders Juventus to lose in Seville.

Speaking to BT Sport after the match, Pellegrini also lamented missed chances from his team after Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling passed up gilt-edged opportunities.

“There were chances for both sides”, Allegri said. AFP/Getty Images Juventus’ midfielder from France Paul Pogba (L) vies with Manchester City’s Argentinian defender Martin Demichelis during the UEFA Champions League football match Juventus vs Manchester City on November 25, 2015 at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.

“What’s important is that we won”.

Pellegrini said: “In this moment, it is impossible to know”.

City have won just three of their last eight Premier League games (W3 D2 L3).

Fernandinho had an even better chance as he raced onto a loose ball in the box after Yaya Toure had tangled with Giorgio Cheillini but he blasted over from 10 yards.

Caballero puts his unconvincing displays for City down to long spells of inactivity, something he has not been used to in his career.

It wasn’t until the stroke of halftime that City tested Gianluigi Buffon.

Juve started the second half brightly but City would go on to scare the hosts on several occasions.

Morata came on for Mandzukic in the 54th minute and nearly immediately set up a second.

The Spain forward could have sealed the match late on as he skipped past two opponents before unleashing an effort which Hart did well to save. “That is the life of a substitute goalkeeper”.

“It wasn’t a good week for us – we lost two games”.