Pep Guardiola will be driven to mastermind a victory for Manchester City against Juventus, considering his side have failed to win their last two games in the Champions League.
Guardiola confimed Foden is ruled out of the contest against Thiago Motta’s side, while also revealing that Nathan Ake is set to be sidelined for weeks with his latest injury.
The Manchester City boss is unlikely to fret over the absences of his key players, considering that has been a running theme for much of the ongoing season for him.
Juventus’ injury boosts against Manchester City are reported to be in form of the returning midfield duo of Douglas Luiz and Weston McKennie.
Former City striker Stevan Joventic pinpointed Kevin De Bruyne as the potential “difference” maker for the visitors, as well as Erling Haaland ahead of their trip to the Allianz Stadium.
Pep Guardiola will be hoping the dynamic duo come good on Wednesday night.
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Ahead of his side’s much-awaited clash against Juventus, Guardiola stated that every team is superior to Manchester City in counter-attacking situations, where they have conceded a majority of their goals from this season.
Manager Pep Guardiola and Jack Grealish of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace FC and Manchester City FC at Selh...
Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images
Pep Guardiola says every team are better than Man City in ‘transitions’
Guardiola said via BeanymanSports: “What will save us is the way we play. And mistakes are consequences because we are not playing we have to play and the way we have to play is so simple. You have to play so simple, our strength is the ball, our success in these eight, nine years was, we run like a desperate team when we don’t have the ball.”
“With the ball, it’s being incredibly patient. Let them run and run. And now, we are in a moment where we attack so quick, we do a lot things, not in the right tempo, then we lose the ball and after, we concede a lot of transitions. With that, any team is better than us, its better.”
Pep Guardiola continued to elaborate on why doing the fundamentals will be key to Manchester City building confidence ahead of their Champions League outing.
“So, we have to be so simple and basically do what we are as a team, how we build and that confidence comes back from the simple things, just have the ball and pass the ball in the easy way to the mates to the right foot, in the right tempo, the simple things, do it better.”
“And after that, you cannot imagine how you regain the confidence when you make an extra thousand, million passes and you are involved in the game, you are involved altogether and that helps us be who we are. Of course, we adjust some things, mentally, now we have to do it.”
The Catalan concluded: “But the way we want to play, it’s not going to change for obvious reasons, our success was there. I know when we are able to do it, we are able to do even in the situations we have in the last month.”
Stevan Jovetic predicts Man City to beat Juventus
Stevan Jovetic predicted Manchester City to defeat Juventus, despite not being in the best of shape, both form and squad availability wise.
Jovetic claimed: “The Citizens are not having a great time, we are all used to seeing them win by three or four goals and instead they are having a bit of trouble at the moment. It’s normal because it can happen in football, then the injuries are not helping them.”
COMPETITION YEAR SCORELINE MAN CITY JUVENTUS
UEFA CUP 1976 1-0 WIN LOSS
UEFA CUP 1976 2-0 LOSS WIN
EUROPA LEAGUE 2010 1-1 DRAW DRAW
EUROPA LEAGUE 2010 1-1 DRAW DRAW
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2015 2-1 LOSS WIN
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2015 1-0 LOSS WIN
“The Bianconeri are having a so-so championship and not like Juve, but the coach has just arrived and it takes time. They are a good team but they are no longer the winning team they were years ago.”
“My chip is on Manchester City: they are stronger, even if they are not in great shape.”
With Manchester City only having defeated Juventus once in six total competitive meetings, it will be interesting to see whether the players heed Pep Guardiola’s advice in their search for a win.
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