Roberto Mancini sees his side gain a draw against his boyhood club
Published:Manchester City stayed joint top of Group A last night but were unable to break down a stubborn Juventus side at the City of Manchester stadium.
Roberto Mancini will be happy with the point that keeps them two points ahead of Juventus, but will be unhappy with his side’s inability to trouble the Juventus defence, with his side mustering just three shots on target.
Vincenzo Iaquinta’s long-range effort put Juventus in front but Adam Johnson, playing in front of Fabio Capello, scored the equaliser for Man City after latching onto Yaya Toure’s through ball and rounding Juventus goalkeep Alex Manninger.
It was a strong showing from Johnson in front of the England manager and with a European qualifier against Montenegro, Johnson will be hopefully of earning a start on the left wing.
Mancini, a boyhood Juve fan, introduced Patrick Viera and Emmanuel Adebayor into the starting line-up and handed Jerome Boateng his first start for the club.
Mancini admitted to making the changes with half an eye on the tie with Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday in a game Man City are 2/5 to win at home.
KKS Lech Poznan top Group A by way of goal difference but are long at 7/1 to finish the group stage top, and Man City will be confident of winning the group and are 4/7 to do so.
Juventus are second favourites at 15/8 to top Group A and face bottom club FC Salzburg away in Austria and will be hopeful of applying some pressure to Man City and Lech Poznan.
The top two face off at the City of Manchester stadium in the next round of fixtures and Man City will want a win as they continue to justify their 5/1 favouritism to win the Europa League.
Juventus are 14/1 to win the Europa League. See the full UEFA Europa League football betting odds market here.
