Manuel Pellegrini was ‘not unhappy’ with Manchester City, despite their defeat to Juventus in Turin which means they face a fight to achieve top spot in their group.
Juventus confirmed qualification alongside City to the Champions League knockout stages thanks to Mario Mandzukic’s first-half volley which secured the win for the Italian side.
City must now hope results go their way in the final week of matches to secure the top spot which Pellegrini desires.
“Both teams played well and we were unlucky to lose this game,” said the Chilean manager.
“We tried to dominate the game and I am not unhappy the way we played because this is not an easy team or stadium to come to, but it is not the result we wanted.
“I hope we beat and still finish top of the group because it is important to arrive in the knock out stages in first position.”
The Citizens must hope that alongside winning their own game, Juventus lose their final tie away at if they are to progress as group winners.
City also have cause for concern in terms of injuries as goalkeeper Joe Hart had to come off through injury late in the second half at the Juventus Stadium.
It is unknown as of yet the extent of this injury, but City will be hoping it isn’t too severe, and the English goalkeeper made several outstanding stops against Juventus.
This adds to City’s injury worries, as Pellegrini admitted they already must cope without Vincent Kompany for the next two weeks at least.
Yaya Toure believes City have the squad to cope with these problems however, and also reaffirmed how they must quickly turn their attention back to the league.
“We have a fantastic squad and I think we were unlucky to be honest,” the Ivorian midfielder said.
“We are quite disappointed. It was a 50-50 game and we had a lot more chances than them but we were not clinical.
“We have to forget this game and try to bounce back in the league.”
Image courtesy of Alex Morton/Action Images, with thanks.
