Juve strike late to hand City first defeat this season

Manuel Pellegrini insists his Manchester City side did not deserve to lose against Juventus in their opening Champions League game.

City’s European misery continued at the Etihad Stadium but the manager said his side were unlucky and had “controlled the game”.

Raheem Sterling missed a good early chance for the Premier League leaders before Giorgio Chiellini headed into his own net in the 57th minute under pressure from Vincent Kompany.

The Citizens will hope for a positive result, to get the Champions League bid off to a good start, but will this happen?

“The differences are very slight, especially against a strong team like Juventus“.

All the talk in the build-up was of how City have turned on the heat at the start of the season and how their Champions League group was favourable, given the poor starts of their group-mates.

But Buffon then produced a brilliant double save to keep out Sterling and David Silva in quick succession and Bony also extended the 37-year-old keeper.

“The most important thing is we won and reminded people that when we play together as we know we can, we are among the best in Europe”.

He said: “I expect that when we have chances we must score”.

Iconic former Milan boss Sacchi believes Massimiliano Allegri’s side fully deserved their victory for the way in which they performed as a unit.

Another critical moment came after 75 minutes, with the score at 1-1, as City skipper Kompany was forced off with a calf injury.

Manuel Pellegrini made a decision to change his squad and brought Kevin De Bruyne for his Champions League debut.

City have failed to go beyond the Champions League last 16 in the previous four seasons and their home form has been an integral factor, with their last 15 home games in the competition yielding just five wins. If we just base ourselves on what happens in Italy, I don’t think that’s very helpful for Juventus.