Manchester City 1-2 Juventus: Five Talking Points

Manchester City have stormed to five victories from as many matches in the Premier League, but for the fifth consecutive season they have failed to win their opening home game of a Champions League campaign. City were leading 1-0 courtesy of an own-goal from Giorgio Chiellini, but Alvaro Morata's late goal after Mario Mandzukic had equalized from a brilliant Paul Pogba cross gave Juventus a deserved 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.There is still time for City to recover and make it to the knockout stages. But in a difficult group that also features Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach, the pressure is already on. The game would certainly be a big boost in morale to Juventus who are enduring a difficult start to the domestic season and also raises serious questions about City’s failure to close the game down and whether they have enough firepower to cover for Sergio Aguero. Here’s a look at five things we learned from the tense encounter at the Etihad Stadium.

#1 Gianluigi Buffon still one of the best goalkeepers in the world

Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a couple of magnificent saves to keep Juventus in the game.

Juventus skipper Buffon once again proved that he is the best goalkeeper of his generation. Picking up where he left off last season with his top-notch performances in the Champions League, the skipper showed his sheer class in restricting City just one goal on the first day of the Champions League season.

In his absence, Juventus would not have won. In fact, they would most likely have lost. His early save from a Raheem Sterling shot was significant because of its timing, while the double save he made with the score at 1-0 in the second half will be the stand-out moment of the day.

He almost single-handedly lifted his team onto a platform from which they could mount an offensive and pull off a recovery. At the end of the day, Juventus won with two superbly taken goals but their goalkeeper was their most important player.

The captain truly led by example.

#2 Wilfried Bony still a long way from filling Aguero\'s shoes

Wilfried Bony had a day to forget against Juventus

Any team in the world would miss Sergio Aguero. And that was certainly the case on the night with the Manchester City ace not starting the game having not recovered from a hamstring injury to play the full 90 minutes. Instead, it was left to Wilfried Bony to lead the attack for City.

Though City created many a chance, they couldn’t find the back of the net. It was telling that, despite boasting the likes of David Silva, Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Raheem Sterling as a supply for a target man of the calibre of Bony, the only goal City scored was an own goal created by pressure from Vincent Kompany on Giorgio Chiellini on a set-piece.

A pass completion rate of just around 25% is terrible for any player and the former Swansea man couldn’t create space nor position himself with the consistency that is required at this level. A clever nutmeg to get behind the last defender only resulted in an effort that was skewed badly wide. Failure to get at the end of an excellent low cross from Kolarov later summed up the day for the Ivorian.

Bony will not get many chances to impress, and this was another instance of him letting slip an opportunity to show Manuel Pellegrini his worth.

#3 Juve\'s smart buys triumph over City\'s spending spree

Juventus’ new recruits came out on top against City’s big-money signings

It was a summer of change for both the clubs, with Manchester City spending big on the signings of Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi, and Juventus having to deal with the exit of three of their best players of the past few seasons in Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal.

In the battle of the new signings, it was clearly the freshmen of the Italian outfit that came out on top with Mario Mandzukic getting to the end of Pogba’s brilliant cross to equalize, and Juan Cuadrado looking the brightest threat in the early stages of the game.

City’s recruits, on the other hand, let them down. Sterling’s initial shot was saved by Buffon, only for him to repeat the exact same thing right after the first goal. Making the most of your chances is crucial at this level, and the former Liverpool man didn’t capitalize.

De Bruyne came on immediately after Mandzukic’s goal, but he offered nothing more in terms of the chance creation. Otamendi was probably the worst off amongst the newbies, being directly responsible for Morata’s winner. After coming on for Kompany who had thus far put in an imperious performance, the Argentine was dragged too far out and was turned far too easily before Morata slotted in the winner.

#4 Man City fans yet to truly embrace the competition

The crowd at the Etihad jeered during the Champions League anthem and were dull through the night.

The atmosphere at the Etihad on nights like this is a source of great concern. The inconvenience of midweek night games and television coverage are factors that were alluded to when City’s fans were rather unjustly criticized last year, when the club failed to sell out big European fixtures.

Unfortunately, there is no escaping the fact that City fans still don’t see the European fixtures with the kind of excitement that it generates elsewhere. They also seem yet to bury the hatchet with UEFA for the fines that were imposed on the club for violation of Financial Fair Play rules, with the fans jeering the UEFA anthem – something that is universally adored by fans everywhere.

The club must find a way to make the Etihad Stadium a more intimidating place to visit on nights like this. Not until Chiellini’s own-goal just before the hour-mark did the home crowd even start to come to life. And at times here it wasn’t hard to see how clubs such as CSKA Moscow, Roma and Ajax have left with decent results in recent years.

City’s poor runs in the Champions League have been centred mostly on dismal performances at home. And while the team has seen a flying start to the domestic season, the club desperately needs continental recognition if it is to be truly considered one of the powerhouses of modern football.

#5 Midfield battle decided by clinical strikers

Paul Pogba ran the show for Juventus

The game was essentially a battle fought in the midfield, and in this battle Paul Pogba and Fernandinho were the heroes for their respective sides. If Pogba was Juve’s enforcer, Fernandinho was City’s – breaking up play around his own box before driving the ball forward.

Fernandinho did not deserve to be on the losing side. But it was Pogba’s superior quality that made the difference at the end of the day with the Frenchman producing a perfecty timed and weighted ball for Manzukic to poke in at the far post to equalize.

City has an abundance of creative force in the forms of Nasri, Silva and Sterling but it wasn’t supply that was lacking. Juventus made the most of their chances while City seemed to be botching chance after chance. At this level of competition, opportunity rarely comes calling twice.

Juventus were clinical when it mattered, and that made all the difference.