Juventus vs Manchester City match report: Double blow for City as they lose top spot and injured Joe Hart

Juventus 1 Manchester City 0

(Getty Images)

Manchester City are a big club who seem forever to be dwarfed by Europe. Their manager, Manuel Pellegrini, had said victory in Turin would have been a grand statement of intent. However, well though City played, they lost and but for some more superlative goalkeeping from Joe Hart, they might have lost by more than one goal.

Throughout City’s time in the Champions League, Hart is perhaps the only player to have exceeded his potential. He was forced off through injury towards the end of an enthralling evening after another fabulous save, blocking Alvaro Morata’s shot with his leg at full stretch after the forward had turned the City defender, Nicolas Otamendi, with breath-taking skill.

It is just as well there is nothing more riding on the final group game than whether Manchester City finish first or second in Group D because at this rarefied level Hart is a significant asset.

Raheem Sterling, Fernando and Fenandinho each came close to a breakthrough but a win for Juventus, inspired by Paul Pogba, was always the likeliest outcome. Borussia Mönchengladbach’s thrashing of Sevilla ensured both teams are through to the business phase of the Champions League but once more Pellegrini faces finishing second and the risk of encountering one of the big beasts.

If Manchester City, who had drawn and lost to Barcelona in two consecutive rounds of 16, needed any further reminder of who to avoid, they would have found it watching their one-time team-mate Edin Dzeko playing at the Nou Camp on Tuesday night. He did score but by then Roma had already conceded six.

As his career lengthens, Sir Alex Ferguson’s failure to keep hold of Pogba seems one of the great errors in his final years at Old Trafford. City were introduced by the stadium announcer as “Manchester United” and Pogba began playing as if he were out to prove a point to his former employers. Before he created Juventus’ opening goal, City had a chance to set the tone of the evening as Yaya Touré and Giorgio Chiellini met Kevin de Bruyne’s cross.

The Manchester City captain may have been substituted at the interval during Saturday’s debacle against Liverpool but in a more advanced role he proved one of Pellegrini’s more effective performers.

While falling to the floor, Touré managed to feed the ball out to Fernandinho, who shot over into the banks of banners and flags on the Curva Sud. Within minutes the cost of that miss was to be paid in full.

Pogba took the ball past De Bruyne in his own half and began a run that became more dangerous with every stride. Alex Sandro, patrolling the Juventus left in place of Patrice Evra, delivered a deep, dangerous cross that Mario Mandzukic met perfectly on the volley after muscling past Otamendi, who finished on the grass. Joe Hart was convinced Otamendi had been fouled. The referee, Felix Brych, concluded, probably correctly, that both men had been holding each other.

Otamendi was to have a hard time handling Mandzukic while Bacary Sagna, who had said the atrocities in Paris had affected his performance against Liverpool, was again below his best. As the teams prepared for the second half, Touré could be observed giving a long lecture to his right-back.

Mario Mandzukic volleys home the only goal of the game (Getty Images)

By no means were Manchester City as inept as they had been on Saturday and a few minutes after the restart Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon pushed Fernando’s header against a post and saw the ball scrambled clear before Touré’s long legs could push it over the line.

Juventus, however, always seemed sharper and more likely to break through. The nearest they came to a second before the interval was another cross but delivered from the flank guarded by Gaël Clichy, making his comeback after a long lay-off through injury.

Stephan Lichtsteiner knocked it down and Mandzukic forced a brilliant save from Hart, who always appears to be overworked and over-performing on these European nights.

Just before the hour mark, Hart was beaten by Mandzukic’s replacement, Alvaro Morata, who dinked the ball over him. Stefano Stuararo, at full stretch, steered it on to the outside of the post. Manchester City escaped but this was another lesson in how high the bar is set in Europe.