TA Club World Cup Group G Preview: Manchester City vs. Juventus will surely pay attention to it. Save the last chance to disappoint the season?

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Popular teams: Manchester City

By its own extremely high standards, Manchester City has had a disappointing season. After winning the Premier League championship for four consecutive years under Guardiola, Manchester City has failed to make a strong impact on the championship this season.

Injury issues are the catalyst for a decline in state before Christmas, but in recent months, Manchester City has shown signs of recovery. Guardiola adjusted the tactical system so that the full-back can maintain a higher and wider position when Manchester City attacks. The figure below shows the scene when they played against Bournemouth in the last home court of the Premier League. During the offensive stage, Kovasic retreated to the defense line and formed a 3-2-5 formation.

's better performance has made Manchester City unbeaten in the Premier League since early March, but lost to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final, Guardiola failed to win an important trophy for the first time in eight years. Not surprisingly, Guardiola was reluctant to show excessive optimism.

Guardiola said at the end of April: "The reality is that the Premier League is the criterion for a season's success, not the Champions League or the FA Cup. The key is stability on the Premier League, and we have not maintained it. However, this does happen. For multiple reasons that are well-known, sometimes you will have a bad season. All you have to do is stick to the end and try to reduce losses."

This is a bad season for Guardiola, but Manchester City is still one of the popular teams to win this Club World Cup.

According to Opta's strength ranking, Manchester City is still the strongest team among all the teams in the Club World Cup this summer. This is a global ranking system with more than 13,000 clubs, with a rating range of 0 to 100 points. Therefore, it can be foreseen that Guardiola will regard the Club World Cup as an opportunity to practice more tactics, and at the same time start to rebuild the lineup and fight for the regaining of the championship next season.

Focus battle: Juventus vs Manchester City

This is almost undisputed.

Whenever two European giants meet on a narrow road, the game will always become the focus of the battle. We can draw on sporadic tactical details of the two teams playing in the Champions League earlier this season. In the league stage of the Champions League this season, Juventus won 2-0.

As shown in the game data panel below, the away team Manchester City controls the ball and on-field space, and suppresses Juventus in the backcourt through the cooperation of the wing. However, Juventus performed sharper on the offensive end, with both goals derived from crosses, and Manchester City failed to properly guard against it.

At that time, Manchester City was still adapting to the impact of Rodri's absence due to injury and was unable to effectively intercept the opponent's attack. They were vulnerable to counterattack threats in almost every game, fully exposing their weaknesses.

As shown in the figure below, Manchester City's gap in the middle that was exposed instantly after losing the ball was like an abyss. McKennie received the pass in an open area, and then Juventus scored the second goal.

In the following months, Manchester City's off-ball defense has been strengthened, but it is still necessary to pay attention to whether the old ways will be resurfaced in the Club World Cup.

Fans have to wait until the third round of the group stage before they can enjoy the eyes of this showdown. But given that this will be the most important showdown in this group, this contest is worth looking forward to.

Team foundation​

Although Juventus may no longer be the strongest team at present, its deep historical heritage and strong aura undoubtedly add the strongest majesty to Group G.

Juventus has won the Champions League trophy twice, and many of the most shining superstars in the world football world once wore Juventus' iconic black and white striped shirts. But the era of Platini, Baggio, Zidane, Piero, Nedved and Buffon is a distant memory for today's players.

Mota took over Shuai Yin last summer, but only stayed in the head coach position for nine months, failing to replicate his previous success in Bologna. Mota lost only three games in Serie A, but there were 13 draws in the 29 league games he coached, which quickly failed to compete for the championship. Mota was eventually replaced by Tudor in March.

After experiencing the era of nine consecutive Serie A titles, the club's 37th league championship has been out of reach for the past five years. No club can surpass Juventus in the Italian top league, so fans have every reason to hold high expectations and yearn for the team to regain their former glory.

The most expected shine: Irdez​

20-year-old Turkey international Irdez extended his contract to 2029 last summer and took over the iconic No. 10 jersey worn by many of the greatest players in club history. And Ilditz, who is only 20 years old, has many exciting aspects in his game.

Ilditz is quick-moving, fearless and forward-looking, and he is eager to break through his opponent's defense with various skills.

Ilditz has completed 113 breakthroughs in Serie A this season, surpassing any other Juventus player, and he often pushes forward with the ball after passing the defensive player. Although he is known for being the most threatening on the left, his calm mind and excellent balance means he can be competent in any position in the offensive midfield.

Similar to Juventus' overall situation, Yilditz's performance has fluctuated this season, but his on-field performance undoubtedly fully proves that he can become a key weapon in Juventus' offense.

Juventus is facing a difficult period in recent history, and Ilditz seems to have opened a window for the team's future.

In addition to European team players, please pay attention to the performance of Al Ain's offensive player Rahimi. Over the past 18 months, his shooting ability has been impressive in both the club and the national team.

Rahimi was the top scorer of the Olympic Games last summer, scoring eight goals for Morocco, who reached the semi-finals.. Rahimi, 28, also set a record, becoming the first player to score goals in six consecutive Olympic games.

Rahimi, who mainly plays as the left winger, is the key firepower output player for Al Ain's AFC Champions League championship in May last year. He scored 13 goals in 13 games, tying a match record.

If anyone will shoulder the responsibility of capturing the city and seizing the village for Al Ain in the Club World Cup, then you can completely trust Rahimi.

Stories worth watching

How will Vidard Athletics deal in the Club World Cup after a turbulent season.

This team from Casablanca is highly expected. They won the Moroccan League championship 22 times, seven more times than the second-ranked Moroccan Sports League, and three times won the African Champions League.

Among them, the most recent championship was in the 2021-22 season, coached by Reglaji, who is now the head coach of the Moroccan national team. Regraj led Morocco to the semi-finals of the Qatar World Cup in 2022, becoming the first African national team to enter the semi-finals of the World Cup. And his best achievement at the club level is undoubtedly leading Vadard Athletics to the African Championship.

Vidad Athletics is famous for its straightforward and tactical style of counterattacking, but last summer, coach Mokwana joined from South African bachelor Mamelodi Sunset and worked to change the team's offense. However, despite some signs of improvement throughout the season, the eight-game defeat caused Vader Athletic to fail to make a real impact on the championship, and Mokwana was fired in April this year.

Interim head coach Mohamed Amin Bennahem took office, the team's performance improved. With three consecutive victories, Vader Athletics entered the Club World Cup with a high competitive state.

But it may be almost impossible to pose a real threat to Group G, especially after a few months of such a chaotic situation.

Things you may not know...

Arai was therefore led by former Argentine international Crespo to win the 2024 AFC Champions League championship. They defeated the Japanese team Yokohama Mariner in the final and won the AFC Champions League trophy for the second time in history.

Crespo, the fourth scorer in Argentina's history, took over Ain's coach in November 2023. Despite Ain's success in the AFC Champions League last summer, his form has declined sharply this season, resulting in Crespo being removed from his post in just one year.

Serbian Vladimir Ivic is now in the coaching position. He briefly coached the Championship team Watford in the 2020-21 season. Al Ain currently ranks fifth in the UAE Professional League.

Interestingly, Ain's game against Manchester City will stage a "brother's wall" - Manchester City owner Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the younger brother of Ain's chairman Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.