Manchester City hosted Serie A giants Juventus, in a tough fixture to kickstart their UEFA Champions League campaign. Although it was never going to be an easy test for the Citizens, they were wasteful in-front of goal and their visitors, took advantage to clinical effect with second-half goals to steal all three points.

Below, are the player ratings - from a frustrating evening for Manuel Pellegrini's men in Europe:


Joe Hart: Was not called into action rather frequently, but made a few good saves nonetheless when called upon - especially to deny Sturaro's fierce strike. Could do nothing about the two goals, especially the second with Morata's precise curling effort bouncing in off the post. 6

Aleksandar Kolarov: Delivered a few teasing balls into the box, none of which came to fruition - but he didn't do a particularly bad job defensively either as his threats going forward were to no avail. 6

Bacary Sagna: Nothing to write home about, but a decent shift at right-back either way. Known for his defensive capabilities as opposed to his attacking threat, he made a few important tackles and interceptions to halt Juve driving forward down his flank often enough. 6.5

Vincent Kompany: Didn't have much to deal with in the first 45, but forced the opener by leaning onto Giorgio Chiellini - claiming the goal as his, even though replays showed otherwise. Not a bad display, but he'd have liked to finish the game - who knows, perhaps they wouldn't have conceded the second after he was substituted? 6.5

Eliaqium Mangala: In possession, could have been better. Defensively, solid alongside Kompany - they've formed a strong partnership at the back, but time will tell as to whether or not it'll be disrupted with the arrival of Nicolas Otamendi at Eastlands this summer. 6

Yaya Touré: Not his best game by the Ivorian's high standards, and was often overshadowed by the individual brilliance of his opposing midfielder - Paul Pogba. Apart from one battle for the ball in which Yaya won, the talented 22-year-old controlled the midfield with maturity and composure. 6

Samir Nasri: Showed one or two distinct flashes of just why Pellegrini had included him in the starting XI, but struggled to assert himself in the game and was fairly quiet for the majority of the match - something that plenty of creative midfielders would get lambasted for, especially in a game of such magnitude. 5

Fernandinho: Another impressive display by the Brazilian, who has really come into his element over the past few months with consistent performances at important times for City. Was a nuisance to deal with in midfield as he was constantly breaking up play, and created Sterling's early opportunity on-goal as well as seeing a speculative half-volley flash narrowly wide of the mark in the first-half. 8

Raheem Sterling: This rating may come as a surprise, but Raheem was a livewire down the flank and caused the Juve backline plenty of problems throughout with his pace and tricky dribbling. Admittedly, he didn't score - and probably should have. Having said that though, he's a winger - it's not predominantly his job to do so. Create chances and opportunities, he did. The only thing he now needs to improve, is finishing-wise. 7

David Silva: The silky Spaniard was not at his unbelievable best, but that's to be expected considering Juve's level of pressing and the way in which they tried to shut him out of the game completely. Having seen some of the ball in midfield, he was unable to cut the visitors' defence in-half, constantly looking for space to feed a team-mate through. 6

Wilfried Bony: Criticism is natural for anyone, if they don't play to the level they are expected to. Bony, who joined the club in a £27m switch from Swansea in January, has struggled for goals in a sky Blue shirt since. With Agüero sitting on the substitutes' bench, it was a perfect opportunity for the powerful Ivorian forward to assert his credentials as a regular first-team player, with an impressive showing against last season's Champions League runners-up.

His hold-up play was good, he utilised his strength to good effect. Chances-wise though, it was an evening to forget. Was unable to latch onto Kolarov's teasing ball in the box, as well as missing a clear-cut opportunity and firing wide. Surely a goal will come, sooner or later? 6

Substitutes -

Nicolas Otamendi: It'd be harsh to single Otamendi solely out for the blame in the build-up to Morata's goal, having literally just come onto the field of play - but it wasn't exactly an eyecatching debut as he wasn't forced to do much more defensively in the 15 minutes he was on for. 5

Kevin de Bruyne: A few neat touches and passes here-and-there, but the talented Belgian was offered too little time to make a significant impact on the match itself, despite linking up well with Sterling going forward. 6

Sergio Agüero: A boost for City fans - their talisman's injury fears are no more! Probably shouldn't have been risked, but didn't have enough time to barely touch the ball, let alone make an impactful difference on the game's events late on. N/A

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About the author
Mosope Ominiyi
Writer and editor - European football analyst, youth enthusiast. Email: [email protected]