CONFIRMED lineups for Juventus v Man City UCL clash

Guardiola's men desperately need a win to lift them after losing eight of their past nine games in all competitions. An injury crisis and a loss of form for some of their biggest stars have led the Catalan to the worst run of his managerial career. Despite a 4-1 humbling by Sporting Lisbon and an embarrassing collapse from 3-0 up to draw 3-3 against Feyenoord, they are still in a position to qualify for the new league-phase format.

City find themselves in 17th in the 36-team table, with a top-24 finish enough to secure a place in the playoff round at the least. That said, their chances of a direct entry to the last 16 by finishing in the top eight look narrow, with Paris Saint-Germain and Club Brugge to come in their remaining games of the league phase. 

Ballon d'Or winner Rodri is the biggest miss and is unlikely to return again this season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in September. John Stones, Nathan Ake, Mateo Kovacic and Oscar Bobb are also sidelined for the trip to Turin, while Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden are among the big names to have missed significant chunks of the campaign so far. 

All three of their opponents to come are below them in the table, with Juventus themselves on a four-game winless run and floundering in sixth place in Serie A. City need to look back just two years for inspiration. Defeats to Brentford, Southampton, Manchester United and Tottenham in the winter months of the 2022/23 campaign had Guardiola questioning whether the hunger had gone from his squad after feasting on silverware for so long. A few months later, they lifted the treble, including the club's only Champions League to date.

Juventus v Man City confirmed lineups

Juventus starting XI (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; Savona, Kalulu, Gatti, Danilo; Thuram, Locatelli; Yildiz, Koopmeiners, Conceicao; Vlahovic.

Man Citystarting XI (4-3-3): Ederson, Walker, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Doku, Grealish, Haaland.

 

December 11, 2024