Manager Pep Guardiola has been left a little disappointed that Manchester City were unable to get a seventh goal in their rout of Al Ain, despite the English club securing passage to the knockout stages of the Club World Cup.
German Ilkay Gundogan scored two goals as City comfortably dispatched the Emiratis 6-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, and drew level with Juventus on points and goal difference at the top of Group G.
City play Juventus in their final opening-round match on Thursday to decide who tops the group and who finishes second.
Juventus go into the clash with a slight edge as goals scored in the second tiebreaker after goal difference for teams level on points. Juve have scored nine goals to City’s eight.
In the round of 16, the top team in Group G will play the second-placed team in Group H, currently Red Bull Salzburg. The runners-up will face the top team, currently 15-time European champions Real Madrid.
Juventus beat Wydad 4-1 in the other Group G match.
Erling Haaland scored on a penalty, while new signing Rayan Cherki bagged one close to full-time, and Claudio Echeverri and Oscar Bobb also got on the scoring sheet for City as they aim to look past a disappointing season.
With an entirely new lineup after a 2-0 win over Morocco’s Wydad in the group opener, Man City produced a dominating performance in Atlanta against an overmatched club from the United Arab Emirates.
Guardiola said that his side “pushed and pushed to score another goal” but ended up missing one.
City’s star forward Rodri came off the bench as he continues his gradual return from an ACL injury.
“He cannot play more than 30 minutes,” the Spanish manager said of Rodri’s return. “He still struggles a bit in the duels, still needs to be a little bit stronger, but it’s normal.
“It’s important he played much, much better than the previous game. We miss him a lot. Any team would miss the best player in the world.”
In Sunday’s other results, Salzburg and Al Hilal played out a goalless draw in Group H after 10-man Real Madrid won 3-1 against Pachuca.
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