DYC.

@MM The tap in of all tap ins haha. We can't pull it off, we would struggle to score goals. We're actually deeply in need of a target man, someone who can hold up a ball and bring others into play. That alone would improve our game so much. Add a player who'll actually stay out wide and we improve even more. Hazard isn't ready for a pure central role anyway so yeah. That's just my view of course.

I thought David Luiz and Cole were our best defenders against Juve. He tackled well, didn't give away too many fouls, strong at intercepting and didn't make any major error. JT's the one who should be criticized for his defending. D. Luiz should work on keeping his passing simple for the most though, takes too many unnecessary risks. But again, a strong defensive performance.

According to which source? I know his passing was poor against Juve but I don't remember it being that bad at all. And I just checked whoscored, they have him on 79% (23 passes in total). Seems accurate to me.

If it wasn't for Luiz being so alert and defending well, Lampard's horrible back-pass probably would've led to a Juve goal. Just saying. He messed up bad, so did Terry, but why are the reactions to him messing up always so much worse compared to when others make a mistake?

That goal was so Gianfranco esque. Effective artistry, there's nothing better in football. Can't imagine a better goal happening in the rest of the CL campaign. Contender for goal of the year, as in worldwide, as well.

Yes, very old school yet not too dirty. His encounters with Zlatan 'Hothead' Ibrahimovic in the Serie A were always so epic. Definitely among Kompany and Thiago Silva as the best CBs in the game.

Chiellini is a beast btw. How I wish we had a defender like that. Ramires was very disappointing. Mikel switched strong periods with weak periods (even managed a whopping 9 interceptions), very weird game. Just like against QPR, his passing was below par which is not like him at all. Don't understand how Di Matteo has so little faith in Romeu, letting Mikel play constantly.

Felt we were the better side in the first half, Juventus the far better side in the second half. A draw was fair. We were much better on the ball than I expected us to be. We remain (very) vulnerable off the ball though. I've read people here say we have a strong defence.. I fail to see it. It's not just our defence though, it's our defensive play as collective. We really need to work on that.

It was bound to happen tbh. They were just lackinf the final pass before. Too bad.

Hazard and Mata have had a connection from day 1. Just beautiful.

Things aren't looking good. Best to sit back and counter-attack.

Quality match. We've done well, too bad we had to concede that goal before half-time. Oscar's 2nd goal was incredible, astonishing, magnificent, brilliant, unbelievable, insane, beautiful, wonderful, breathtaking. That's all I got. Terry has been great. Mikel has been playing really well too though he did give the ball away a couple of times. Don't like how easily Juve have gone through our midfield though.

Possibly. I'm just hoping for some width. Juve have a strong defence and are packed in the middle. Attacking through the middle in general is hard enough. Let's wait and see what will happen.

Official website says we're playing the usual formation. 4-3-3 wouldn't make much sense as that would mean Oscar would play on the right up front.

No width.. Hope you know what you're doing Di Matteo.

Zola is the greatest. Though I just had a special thing for Gudjohnsen, still do. Zola is a close number 2 for me though.

Marcelo's on another level in terms of offensive play. Cole is a far better defender though. But Marcelo does have great pace and stamina on his side.

Too hard to decide on a top 5 for me. But my number 1 has to be Guddy.

Yes a lot of football fans vastly overrate his defensive play. It's very average and he can be extremely lazy, leaving his partner, mostly Barry, completely exposed and isolated. His off the ball movement in possession isn't the best either. Ess was far better in all those areas. But when Yaya's in possession of the ball, that's when the magic happens. The best thing about him though is the fact that he's a game changer, so often has he saved City. Though Ess had that too, really miss prime Bison.

I hate to admit it but Toure is much better. What a player. Well on the ball that is. Ess was far better off the ball.

Haha Mourinho you coward. Mancini a bit conservative as well. Too bad.

You're right. Mourinho hasn't been able to create a incredible team despite the huge amount of talent in the squad. They're good, very good but they're not special. Real's not above the likes of Bayern, Utd (yes Utd crashed out early last year and while it was hilarious, it was only an incident) and us. They just have so much individual quality that they're able to hurt any opponent at any time. That said, it would indeed be nice if they gave City a good spanking.

I imagine I'd enjoy talking football with you, your football knowledge is impressive and your passion is admirable. I don't like to go in depth on the forum but in a one on one it's a different case. Don't understand French but I'll have a look at the charts later.

Attack the wings Robbie, attack the wings.

That's very good news. Haven't been as impressed with a ref as with him in a long, long time. Meireles would've been ideal for this game btw. He may not be great on the ball for this level but he possesses the tactical awareness and has the legs to mark a player (Pirlo in this case) all game long.