Manchester City plunged deeper into trouble in the Champions League by losing 2-0 at Juventus on Wednesday, the latest setback in a scarcely believable run of poor results for the ailing English champions.
City dropped to 22nd place in the 36-team standings, with only the top 24 advancing. Progressing to the next round of the new-look format looked a certainty before the season for a team that was European champion in 2022 and has won the last four Premier League titles. But not anymore as City manager Pep Guardiola battles injuries and an apparent loss of belief among his players.
City has won just one of its last 10 matches in all competitions, with goals by Dušan Vlahović and Weston McKennie inflicting the latest defeat and igniting Juventus’ qualification hopes.
Barcelona jumped into second place in the league standings with a 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund, with Raphinha and Ferran Torres, twice, scoring. Arsenal beat Monaco 3-0 mainly thanks to two goals by Bukayo Saka to move into third place.
The top eight qualify directly for the last 16 and the teams placed No. 9-24 go into a two-legged playoff.
Man City could sure do with Julian Alvarez at the moment.
With a brilliant curling finish to open the scoring, the Argentina striker helped Atletico Madrid beat Slovan Bratislava 3-1 and provide a timely reminder of what City is missing after selling him for more than $100 million in August. Alvarez has 12 goals for the season, with four coming in the Champions League.
Antoine Griezmann scored Atletico’s other two goals at Metropolitano stadium as the Spanish team climbed to 11th place after a 10th straight win in all competitions.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
