Overview before the match Juventus - Man City
The new format of the UEFA Champions League is creating surprises. Man City and Juventus are such cases. These two highly rated teams are ranked 20th and 22nd respectively, before entering the direct confrontation. They have only 8 points.
In their last two games, Man City lost 1-4 to Sporting CP and then drew 3-3 with Feyenoord despite leading 3-0. Perhaps the most prominent issue for Man City is their inability to stop counter-attacks without midfielder Rodri. Only AC Milan (14) have allowed their opponents to break more quickly than Man City (13) in their first five Champions League games.
In such situations, Man City faced 13 shots from the opponent, the most among the teams participating in the Champions League this season.
Matheus Nunes has been given a more prominent role by Guardiola in his search for a midfield solution, and the former Wolves man has at least made some contributions to the team in the coming months.
The midfielder has assisted three goals in his last three Champions League games and is the only Man City player to assist more than one goal in the Champions League this season.
With coach Thiago Motta's Juventus, they are also very strong in ball control, but this does not mean much. In the Champions League, after 5 matches played, Juventus is 1 of 2 teams that lost the ball the most (62 times).
In their last two Champions League matches, Juventus had two hard-fought draws, 1-1 against Lille and 0-0 against Aston Villa. Facing Man City at home, Juventus had a poor record before, having lost 4/6 of their last home matches in the Champions League (2 wins), in a streak that stretches back to 2022.
That is the same number of defeats they suffered in their previous 40 home outings in the competition between October 2013 and December 2021.
Coach Motta may have to rely on Francisco Conceicao to make a difference against Man City. Conceicao has completed 18 successful dribbles in his four Champions League appearances this season, averaging 5.2 successful dribbles per 90 minutes. That is the highest number recorded by a Juventus player since the 2003-2004 season.
Head to head record Juventus - Man City
Juventus and Man City have faced each other six times before in European competitions. After losing their first meeting in September 1976 (0-1 in the UEFA Cup), Juventus are unbeaten in their last five meetings with Man City, winning three and drawing two.
Man City's five-match winless run against Juventus is now their longest against any opponent in major European competitions.
Man City also had 5 consecutive matches without winning against Barcelona from 2014-2016, but compared to the long period like Juventus, this milestone is nothing. Another detail worth noting is that Pep Guardiola has never faced Juventus during his time leading Man City until this match.
The Juventus vs Man City match will take place at 3:00 on December 12.
