Juventus vs Manchester City is on the cards on a European football night for the first time since 2015.
Both teams met in the group stages of the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League and Manchester City were well beaten by Juventus across two legs. The Old Lady, who were finalists the season before, went on to the round of 16 where they lost to eventual semifinalists Bayern Munich.
Juventus were a scary team back then and every manager was wary about how to approach them. They were in the middle of their Serie A monopolistic run at the time and as a result, were constant threats in Europe.
City, on the other hand, were still building credibility as a Champions League team at the time. Having being taken over by the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan-led Abu Dhabi United Group (which later created the Britain-based City Football Group in 2013 along with two other major investors to manage its football club portfolio) in 2008, they had to conquer English football first, which they did in four years before moving on to European football conquests.
City got to the semifinals of that season’s competition, however, beating teams like Paris Saint-Germain and Dynamo Kyiv. Manchester City also topped their group that season with Juventus finishing second, which is why The Old Lady’s record over them is something they will never be able to live down—those were their only two losses in the competition until the semis.
Juventus had previously met Manchester City in the UEFA Europa League in 2010 and held them to two draws in two legs. Before that meeting, the last time they came across each other was also in the Europa League (referred to as the UEFA Cup at the time) in 1976, when both teams scored a win against each other across two legs.
This puts their head-to-head record in favour of Juventus, who have three wins and two draws against Manchester City. Things are very different going into this matchday 6 fixture in the 2024/25 season, however.
Since their last meeting in 2015, Juventus have gone down the pecking order in terms of threatening teams. They have lost their Serie A monopoly, last winning the league in the 2019/20 season after nine consecutive years of winning the title by large margins. They have still not been able to add to their two Champions League titles either, last winning Europe’s top club football prize in 1996.
In that time, Manchester City has won six Premier League titles, only losing out to Leicester City in 2015/16, Chelsea in 2016/17, and Liverpool in the 2019/20 season. They would also go on an unprecedented four-season winning run from 2020/21 until now, which has earned them lots of plaudits thanks to the world-renowned difficulty level of the Premier League. City have also halved Juventus’ Champions League trophy tally by picking up the 2022/23 title after coming close in the 2020/21 season and losing to Chelsea.
In essence, the balance of power has shifted. Both teams’ positions have now flipped, as City are now the favorites in this tie. Juventus fans will hope they can be as intimidating as possible to create an atmosphere where Manchester City fans cannot cheer their team to success.
Do you want a seat at this epic clash? Read on for match ticket information!
You will also find team news for both clubs as well as our predictions on what both teams’ XIs will look like and the game’s eventual scoreline.
Match tickets
The last time fans bought Manchester City tickets for a match against Juventus at the Allianz Stadium was to see their team lose. Now, they will visit Manchester City’s official websites, channels and partners to get Juventus vs Manchester City tickets with the expectation that their team will triumph over their Italian hosts.
From the above, we can infer that the game will be hosted by Juventus in their stadium in Turin, Italy. Fans of both clubs will have to visit their ticketing platforms early enough to get entered into the ballots.
Ticket resale sites where fans go to sell their tickets to other fans will greatly help the non-local fans of both teams (non-local fans are fans who do not live in either Manchester or Turin or the environs of the City and can attend matches frequently). Just like with the official platforms, the early bird gets the worm.
The match is scheduled for 11 December 2024 at 9 PM UK time.
Team news
Juventus have six players in the hospital: Bremer, Arkadiusz Milik, Juan Cabal, Vasilije Adžić, Douglas Luiz and Nico Gonzalez. However, only the latter three will be able to return to training in time for Manchester City. This does not mean they will get to play, however, but Motta will be hoping that Luiz is fit enough to play because of his experience with Manchester City’s midfielders, having joined The Old Lady from Birmingham’s Aston Villa at the beginning of the season.
Meanwhile, none of Manchester City’s injured players—Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Matheus Nunes and Jeremy Doku—will be fit in time for the Champions League clash. Guardiola will have to rely on his current squad, who possess enough quality on paper to dispatch any team that lines up in front of them.
Line-ups
Guardiola could try something unorthodox with his squad selection because of the calibre of matches before and after Juventus. Motta, meanwhile, can afford to rest many of his best players as they have easier fixtures (on paper).
Here is our expectation of both teams’ starting XIs for the matchday 6 clash.
Juventus: Di Gregorio; Savona, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Thuram, Locatelli; Yıldız, Koopmeimers, Conceicao; Vlahovic.
Manchester City: Ederson; Gvardiol, Dias, Akanji, Walker; Kovacic, Gundogan; Foden, De Bruyne, Silva; Haaland.
Prediction
Both teams may not be on the same page right now but the UEFA Champions League has humbled them both this season. City are outside the top 8, just as Juventus are, which means that both sides will not hold anything from each other.
Thiago Motta will face one of his coaching idols, Pep Guardiola, and will attempt to beat the master. Guardiola, meanwhile, will work to show everyone that his ideas still work, as he is enduring a topsy-turvy season, no thanks to injuries. This is an open game, but one with a winner.
Juventus 1 – 2 Manchester City