Both Juventus and Manchester City were held to 2-2 draws in their respective league matches on Saturday ahead of their game against each other in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, which comes in testing circumstances for both Thiago Motta and Pep Guardiola.
Juventus had to fight back from a 2-0 deficit against Bologna in Serie A, as Teun Koopmeiners got his first Bianconeri goal after 15 appearances, while Samuel Mbangula rescued a point with a fine, bending finish from the edge of the area in the first minute of second-half injury time.
City, meanwhile, fell 1-0 behind after just four minutes against Crystal Palace in the Premier League and also fell 2-1 down in the second half before securing an eventual 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park. Erling Haaland and Rico Lewis came up with the goals for the Citizens.
Juventus and Man City both yet to find their stride
Juventus and City will meet at the Allianz Stadium in the Champions League on Wednesday night, but both teams have a few issues to contend with.
Juventus were dealt another potential injury blow against Bologna, as Italy international Andrea Cambiaso was forced off after just 14 minutes with a possible ankle injury after an attempted block of Dan Ndoye’s shot six minutes in.
Juventus have also only just welcomed back leading goalscorer Dusan Vlahovic after several weeks off, while Nicolo Savona was only fit enough for a spot on the bench after his recent lay-off.
There was still no Douglas Luiz in the Juve squad against Bologna, nor Weston McKennie or Arkadiusz Milik, while Bremer and Juan Cabal remain out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Juventus are still unbeaten in Serie A, and have only lost once in all competitions all season. That said, they have recorded more draws than victories over the course of the season thus far.
In fact, Thiago Motta’s side have been held to draws in each of their last four matches, five in their last six, and it will have been more than a month since their last win by the time they face City on Wednesday.
City, meanwhile, have also endured a crisis of results by their usually impeccable standards. Pep Guardiola lost five matches in succession across all competitions in October and November, the first time the coach has lost four or more matches in succession in his entire career.
Though they briefly bounced back with a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest last weekend, the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace means that City have only won two of their last 10 matches in all competitions.
