Jamie Jackson was at the Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida. Here’s his verdict! Thanks for reading this MBM.
… so after all that, Manchester City go into the half of the draw that currently contains Inter, Fluminense, Palmeiras, Botafogo, Benfica and … Chelsea. If Group H finishes tonight as it stands right now, they’ll play Red Bull Salzburg in the last 16, though their opponents could also be Al Hilal or Real Madrid. Best wait to see how that pans out, then.
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Pep Guardiola, clearly delighted, speaks to DAZN. “It was a long time ago we made a performance like today … we had to improve … I am happy to finish first against a top, top side … we are waiting for our opponent here on Monday … it is just one game … the players felt again what we have to do to be a good team … the belief always comes back from your performance … we missed Rodri a lot, right?! … last season we had a lot of problems with injury … we lost the best player in the world … the game was good … control … we will be ready for the next one … everyone knows they have some competition … if they don’t play good, another one will play … everyone gave a performance.”
Juve coach Igor Tudor speaks to DAZN. “They were better … they are a better team … they controlled us … it was difficult to play … it was not easy to press … they were much better … we need to be complete as a team … we need to be conditioned better to make our press … there is no damage … there is a game to play in four days and we will be good, for sure … at this moment I don’t enjoy the Club World Cup too much, but in general, yes!”
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Juve midfielder Teun Koopmeiners talks to DAZN. “It was difficult … we stayed too low … it was difficult to come out … we said at half-time, let’s go for the 2-2 … unfortunately in the second half they were stronger than us … we have to learn from that … I still don’t feel 100 percent … the achilles is a difficult injury [to recover from] … we still have a lot to learn … the intensity is there so we can only do better.”
Jeremy Doku has been named Man Superior Player of the Match. But it could have been any number of City stars. Rodri was superb on his return to starting-XI action, Tijjani Reijnders linked with him seamlessly, Bernardo Silva was his usual effervescent self, Rayan Ait-Nouri impressed once again for his new club, and Savinho – who scored a screamer - was a constant menace. Looks like City’s summer dealings are worth every penny, and are beginning to click; the rest of the Premier League, never mind everyone else at the Club World Cup, will have taken notice.
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Bernardo Silva speaks to DAZN. “Very good … we are very happy … against a top team … we managed to control the game … it was the best performance in this tournament … it’s just another win … an important win … we qualify first … I don’t know if it’s a statement win … we are in this tournament to win … we are one step closer … we watch the games tonight and see our next opponent … then we prepare … now it’s kill or be killed … we are going to prepare well … we have a big squad … you need everyone to be successful … Rodri is really important for us … hopefully he can get his fitness back … we really need him.”
The other match in Group G has ended Wydad Casablanca 1-2 Al Ain. All of which means the final table looks like this …
1. Manchester City P3 W3 D0 L0 F13 A2 Pts 9
2. Juventus P3 W2 D0 L1 F11 A6 Pts 6
3. Al Ain P3 W1 D0 L2 F2 A12 Pts 3
4. Wydad Casablanca P3 W0 D0 L3 F2 A8 Pts 0
FULL TIME: Juventus 2-5 Manchester City
A statement victory for a sparkling Manchester City. On this evidence, it’ll take a good side to stop them.
90 min +2: Haaland intercepts a loose pass out from the Juve defence and slips Cherki into the box down the inside-right channel. He’s only got Di Gregorio to beat, and opens his body, attempting to pass the ball into the bottom left. But the keeper reads the intent and parries with a strong hand. It really should have been number six.
90 min: There will be three of your extra minutes.
89 min: City busy themselves seeing this out in the clock-management style, passing it around the back. Job done a long time ago.
87 min: Foden Gazzas his way down the middle and upon entering the box attempts to tee up Haaland. But the striker can’t get a shot away, because Kalulu comes across to block his path. Fine defending.
86 min: Cherki showcases his talent with a smooth drag-back and instant nutmeg. No need to name and shame the victim, Cherki could have diddled the best of them with that trick.
GOAL! Juventus 2-5 Manchester City (Vlahovic 84)
Yildiz skips in from the left, past Foden with ease. He then splits City’s defence with perhaps the pass of the evening, releasing Vlahovic down the middle. Vlahovic slots confidently past Ederson and into the bottom left. Too little, too late, but what a fine goal!
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82 min: Another ball whistles through the Juve box from the right. Haaland again gets very close to converting it. Juve will be desperate to hear the whistle. McKennie is replaced by Adzic.
81 min: This is the first time Juve have shipped five goals since Napoli did that particular number on them in Serie A in January 2023. Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were on the scoresheet for Napoli that day. Small consolation, but when Juve go down like this, at least they’re taken down by top-drawer talent.
79 min: The game restarts, and Juve set about looking for some consolation. Yildiz skies a long-distance effort over the bar.
77 min: City are hot, hot, hot. Time for one of those Cooling Breaks, then!
GOAL! Juventus 1-5 Manchester City (Savinho 75)
This is an outrageous goal! Haaland wins City a corner. That leads to some pinball. Haaland tries to sweep home from six yards. Di Gregorio kicks clear spectacularly. The ball pinballs around again, out of the Juve box … only for it to be returned viciously by Savinho, who absolutely larrups a first-time rising strike off the underside of the bar and in!
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75 min: City make a double change, replacing Ait-Nouri and Silva with O’Reilly and Cherki.
73 min: Foden drops deep to play quarterback. When 80 miles from Tampa Bay in Rome, etc. He sprays a ball wide left for Savinho. Not quite. Into the stand it goes. Tom Brady used to make this sort of thing look easy, but it’s anything but.
71 min: … so this is a proper beating now. The scoreline finally reflecting City’s utter dominance.
GOAL! Juventus 1-4 Manchester City (Foden 69)
City go long. Haaland takes the ball down from the skies on the right. He steams infield, and looks for Foden in the middle, six yards out. The pass isn’t quite right, and flies through to Savinho, who takes a touch back inside … taking the keeper out of the game … and this time Foden is on point to slot home from a couple of yards!
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68 min: Yildiz scoops a cute pass down the middle to release Vlahovic, who attempts to chip Ederson from the edge of the box. But Ederson is wise to the grift, and slaps the ball away just inside his area. A fine instinctive save, though Vlahovic kind of shinned that, and may think he should have done better.
66 min: Rodri was always going to be subbed during the second half, as he edges his way back to full fitness. He’s been seriously impressive in his first start since last autumn. He’s replaced by Gundogan, while Doku makes way for Foden.
65 min: … but City are still in complete charge, of both territory and possession. They stroke the ball around patiently, before Rodri’s sudden pass down the inside-left channel leads to Reijnders being hauled down by the hapless Kalulu, who goes into the book. Nothing comes of the free kick.
63 min: The free kick’s sent wide left to Doku, whose shot-cum-cross is hacked clear. A scrappy couple of minutes from both sides.
62 min: Thuram stands on Silva’s heel. Accidental, but that’s a free kick out on the right wing. City play the set piece short, and over-elaborate. They’re going nowhere, but Thuram clumsily takes down Ait-Nouri, 30 yards out in a central position, so City can try again.
60 min: Savona is down again. Last time he copped a whack in the face; this time there’s a problem with his left leg. The physio does the make-a-sub hand-jive, before helping the young defender off. Savona looks in a lot of pain. He’s replaced by Gatti.
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58 min: Like Haaland before him, Yildiz is immediately into the thick of the action. Less than a minute after coming on, he drags a shot wide left from the edge of the City box. That’s as dangerous as Juve have looked all evening.
57 min: That’s Locatelli’s last contribution. He’s one of three Juve players replaced, along with Costa and Koopmeiners. On come Cambiaso, Thuram and the free-scoring Yildiz.
56 min: Locatelli spins out of danger on the edge of his own box, a pirouette that takes him away from the pressing Doku and Haaland. Wonderful skill, and he pings his team off on the break with one line-splitting pass. City are short of men, but Vlahovic can’t decide what to do and the attack breaks down before Juve can reach the opposing box.
54 min: This scoreline is the least City deserve for their dominance. They’ve been magnificent today.
GOAL! Juventus 1-3 Manchester City (Haaland 52)
Reijnders splits the Juve defence with a finely weighted pass down the inside-right channel. Nunes is clear. He rolls across to Haaland, who can’t miss, facing an open goal from six yards, unchallenged … but he tries his best to! He kicks the ball up onto his other leg, and the ball twangs into the net. Hey, they can’t all be picture-book perfect.
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51 min: Doku jinks in from the left in the electric style. A lot of space opens up near the D. He goes for the top-right corner but can’t get any bend on the ball and it sails out of play arrow-straight, miles wide right of the target. A sad finish to a fine run.
49 min: City are quickly back in charge. Pass, pass, patient probe, pass. Juve sitting back for now.
47 min: Gonzalez probes down the right and slips over in the vague environs of Doku. He’s in the City box, but to his credit doesn’t insult anyone’s intelligence by claiming a penalty.
46 min: Haaland is nearly on the scoresheet within 50 seconds of coming on! Silva slips Savinho into space down the right. Savinho whistles a first-time cross through the six-yard box, low and hard. Haaland extends a leg, but can’t make contact. What an introduction that would have been!
Manchester City finally turn up, and get the second half underway. They’ve made a change, switching out Marmoush for Haaland. Juve, slightly surprisingly, haven’t turned to the bench yet.
Juventus, who need a goal for the draw that would give them top spot in Group G, are eager to begin again, and are back out first. City are nowhere to be seen. Old habits, etc.
Half-time entertainment. Whet your palate ahead of the summer’s big show.
HALF TIME: Juventus 1-2 Manchester City
A scoreline that flatters Juventus. It’s been pretty much all Manchester City. As things stand, Pep’s men will end Group G on top.
45 min +3: Marmoush is afforded too much time in a pocket of space 25 yards out. He skelps a dipping shot towards the bottom right. It’s heading in. Probably. Di Gregorio can’t take any chances, though, and turns it away. Fine save, and nothing comes of the resulting corner.
45 min +2: City continue to pass it around. One scuffed chance for Vlahovic and Koopmeiners’ pouncing on Ederson’s mistake apart, Juve have done absolutely nothing in attack.
45 min: … and so the rain eases off. But for a couple of minutes, that was intense. There will be four added first-half minutes.
44 min: This stadium is a big open bowl. No roof. The punters don’t care. They’re getting soaked, but it’s party time now. A cranking up of the volume as everyone capers around.
42 min: Nunes wins a City corner down the right. But the set piece is a waste of time. Meanwhile in breaking meteorological news, the Florida heavens have opened, and the rain is lashing down. Hard. Biblical.
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41 min: Savinho crosses from the right. Juve half-clear. Ait-Nouri meets the dropping ball by the left-hand edge of the D. He steers a volley towards the bottom right. It’s heading in, but Di Gregorio is able to parry the bouncing ball away from danger.
39 min: Reijnders finds Savinho down the right. Savinho cuts infield and attempts to surprise Di Gregorio with a snapshot towards the bottom right, but the keeper reads the situation well and claims.
38 min: Costa tries to release Gonzalez down the right. The pass is good, but McKennie was caught offside during the build-up so the whistle goes.
37 min: Doku dribbles down the left, past Kalulu with far too much ease. Kalulu’s head still spinning after his own goal, perhaps. So he does well to get back and block Doku’s attempted ball infield.
35 min: The game’s restarted, but it’s not restarted.
33 min: Everyone’s refreshed and good to go again.
Cooling Break.
31 min: Marmoush picks up possession just inside the Juve box, to the left of goal. He attempts to thread a shot into the bottom right, but Di Gregorio reads the intent and gets down to smother. And with that, it’s time for a Cooling Break …
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30 min: Juve are showing nowt in attack. It’s all City in terms of possession, and another goal feels like it’s in the post.
28 min: “Kalulumitous!” quips Justin Kavanagh in short order. “I’d get my coat but it’s hot in Orlando.”
GOAL! Juventus 1-2 Manchester City (Kalulu og 26)
Savinho, teasing the Juve defence down the right, slips in Nunes on the underlap. Nunes flashes a low cross into the six-yard box. Kalulu, facing his own goal, tries to swivel and whip the ball out for a corner, but instead of sending the ball wide left, slots it straight ahead and into his own net from close range. That’s an appalling error, though the build-up by City was of the free-flowing variety, so consider the mistake forced.
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25 min: Savona is thankfully fine to continue, and play restarts. City are immediately on the front foot, Doku cutting in from the left and teeing up Rodri, whose shot is blocked. But no matter (again), because …
24 min: Everyone uses the break in play to take on some water.
23 min: Rodri sizes up options 25 yards from the Juve goal. He’s got options either side but decides to shield the ball and draw a clumsy foul out of Gonzalez instead. Free kick in a central position. Marmoush batters it straight into the startled face of Savona, who goes down and requires some treatment.
21 min: A burst of speed from Kostic down the left. For a second it looks like he’ll break clear into the box, but Nunes sticks to his shoulder and eventually deflects the ball out for a corner … and there’s another set piece wasted.
19 min: Akanji passes long to nobody in particular. Di Gregorio doesn’t rush to return the ball upfield. Everyone seems happy enough to take a breather.
17 min: Doku nips in between Costa and Kalulu down the left. He cuts back for Marmoush, but before a shot can be taken, Savona arrives to concede a corner. An important intervention, and not a costly one either, because Silva scuffs the subsequent set piece.
16 min: This is absurdly open. Ederson is required to race out of his box to clear with Gonzalez attempting to get on the end of a long ball. His clearance finds Silva, who would have released Marmoush down the middle had Savona not come across to clear.
14 min: Reijnders sashays into the Juve box down the inside-left channel before lashing a wild effort into the side netting. Attacks are besting defences at the moment.
13 min: City re-establish authority with more metronomic passing. Silva tries to find Marmoush with a wedged pass down the inside-right but Savona extends a leg to scoop clear.
GOAL! Juventus 1-1 Manchester City (Koopmeiners 11)
Ederson passes out recklessly from the six-yard box. He’s looking for Silva, but he’s way off target. Koopmeiners nips in ahead of the sliding Silva, strides into the box down the inside-left channel, and slots into the bottom left. What a cock-up by Ederson, but that’s a fine, confident finish by Koopmeiners. Good fun, this!
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10 min: Juve nearly hit back immediately, Costa making ground down the right and crossing low for Vlahovic, who swipes at the ball from eight yards but fails to connect properly. Bad miss. But no matter, because …
GOAL! Juventus 0-1 Manchester City (Doku 9)
Yep, Ait-Nouri’s hit the ground running at his new club all right. A pass slipped down the inside-left channel for Doku. It’s perfectly weighted, so it’s easy for Doku to take a first touch inside past Kalulu before curling into the right-hand side of the net. A simple but gorgeous goal!
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8 min: City stay patient. Suddenly Ederson launches long. Marmoush nearly gets clear down the right but is forced to turn tail by Kelly.
6 min: City slow things down after that brisk start. It is boiling hot after all. On that subject … “I think you made a typo in Cramping World. Stay hydrated!” Peter Oh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the isotonic beverages.
4 min: Ait-Nouri turns Locatelli inside out down the left and crosses long for Silva, whose downward header is awkwardly kicked off the line by Di Gregorio. The ball pings back to Silva but he’s swarmed and the chance is gone. Ait-Nouri’s impressive start at his new club continues apace.
3 min: … and after that brief sortie, City quickly get into ping-it-about mode. Juve pressing but they can’t get a sniff.
1 min: Nunes tries to release Savinho down the right but overcooks the pass, allowing Di Gregorio to race out of his box and blooter clear. Had the pass been better, Juve would have been in a spot of trouble, because there was a lot of space for Savinho to run into.
Juve get the ball rolling. It’s hot in Orlando, 33 degrees centigrade. City wearing their sky-blue shirts with white sash, Juve in their black and white stripes with pink piping.
The teams take to the pitch at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. You know the drill by now. One by one, like a less pumped version of The Price Is Right. Not long until kick-off, so come on down!
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Pep Guardiola talks to DAZN. “Rodri will not be for 90 minutes but one day he had to start … everybody has to play … I prefer Erling for the second half to be fresh … for the movement … fresh energy for the game … we have qualified, that is the first step … we play every game to try to win.”
Is he worried which side of the draw City end up in? “No … when you play in the last 16 you will play the best teams … when we won the Champions League we played the toughest opponents.”
Manchester City have only beaten Juventus once in seven previous meetings. That victory came in the first round of the Uefa Cup in September 1976, Brian Kidd scoring the only goal of the first leg at Maine Road. Much good it did the Citizens, who lost the return leg in Turin 2-0, Gaetano Scirea and Roberto Boninsegna with the goals at the Stadio Comunale. Names that evoke some proper old-school Italian glamour, right there. Since then, it’s been slim pickings for City, with two draws and four defeats against the Bianconeri. The latest of those losses came just seven months ago, during City’s downright strange mid-season misfire. An opportunity for City to right some historical wrongs tonight.
The big news for City: Rodri starts a match for the first time since succumbing to injury against Arsenal last autumn. Or is this the big news: Erling Haaland is back on the bench. Take your pick.
Juventus have also made surprising changes up front. Kenan Yıldız, who already has three goals to his name in this tournament, and two-goal Francisco Conceição both drop to the bench. Dušan Vlahović is not a bad replacement, to be fair.
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The teams
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Kelly, Savona, Kalulu Kyatengwa, Alberto Costa, Kostic, McKennie, Locatelli, Vlahovic, Gonzalez, Koopmeiners.
Subs: Pinsoglio, Garofani, Daffara, Rugani, Bremer, Cambiaso, Gatti, Rouhi, Douglas Luiz, Thuram, Adzic, Milik, Muani, Francisco Conceicao, Yildiz.
Manchester City: Ederson, Matheus Luiz, Ait Nouri, Akanji, Dias, Rodri, Savio, Silva, Reijnders, Doku, Marmoush.
Subs: Bettinelli, Ortega, Stones, Ake, Gvardiol, Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Gundogan, Foden, Cherki, Bobb, Gonzalez, Haaland.
Preamble
Manchester City have to beat Juventus tonight if they’re to win Group G. But what the reward for that will be is anyone’s guess. We know they’d play the runners-up in Group H, but given the manner in which Real Madrid have so far underwhelmed, and Al Hilal have impressed, there are no certain outcomes there, and that’s before we bring Red Bull Salzburg into the equation. So with the winners of Group H awaiting the Group G runners-up, and any combination of 1-2-3 possible in Group H later tonight, it’s a toss of a coin as things stand. City and Juve might as well treat this as a dry run for the knockouts, and what will be, will be. Kick-off in Orlando, Florida is at 8pm UK time, 3pm local. It’s on!
1. Juventus P2 W2 D0 L0 F9 A1 Pts 6
2. Manchester City P2 W2 D0 L0 F8 A0 Pts 6
