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Champions League: Juventus, Manchester City look for rebound

The Italian bunch hosts Sevilla while the English giants visit Borussia Moenchengladbach

Turin: Juventus and Manchester City will both be looking to rebound from domestic woes on Wednesday in the Champions League.

Juventus hosts Sevilla, the Europa League champion the past two seasons, while City visits Borussia Moenchengladbach.

(Moenchengladbach's team exercises in front of a board reading "stay sportive" during a training session prior to the Champions League group E soccer match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and Manchester City, Photo: AP)

With only one win from its opening six Serie A matches, Juventus is off to its worst Italian league start in 46 years.

With Carlos Tevez, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal having departed and key players like Mario Mandzukic and Claudio Marchisio injured, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri is already under pressure.

Juventus is winless in three Serie A home matches after dropping only six points in Turin over the previous two seasons combined.

Last week, Juventus allowed a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw with promoted Frosinone, which earned its first ever point in Serie A, then lost 2-1 at Napoli over the weekend. Juventus did, however, open its European campaign with a 2-1 win at City, leaving it level with Sevilla on three points.

City, meanwhile, has lost two straight Premier League matches and is under pressure to perform in Europe after winning just once away from home in last season's Champions League.

Things to know about Group D

Victory in Germany for City on Wednesday is imperative after the opening loss to Juventus and now two Premier League defeats.

The 2-1 home loss to West Ham was a surprise but City's 4-1 thrashing by Tottenham on Saturday has left the squad stunned.

Read: Manchester City slip allows Manchester United to claim summit

"We must learn from our defeats and react positively," City defender Eliaquim Mangala said. "I am convinced that we have to do better with the players we have here. We have a well-defined project and we must do well - we have no other choice."

Gladbach chronicles

Borussia Moenchengladbach's renaissance is a timely one.

Lucien Favre quit as coach last week after starting the Bundesliga with five defeats and losing 3-0 at Sevilla in the sides' opening Champions League game, but interim coach Andre Schubert has overseen two wins in which the side has scored seven goals.

Ahead of the club's first European Cup-Champions League home game in 37 years, 'Gladbach finally appears to have clicked.

"We're playing the football that made us strong last season again," 'Gladbach midfielder Granit Xhaka said after Saturday's 3-1 win at Stuttgart.

Apart from beating Moenchengladbach 3-0 in its opener, Sevilla has gotten off to a rough start this season.

Following a promising 5-4 loss to Barcelona in the UEFA Super Cup, Sevilla has won twice in seven matches.

Sevilla blues

On Saturday, the team almost squandered a two-goal lead before Yevhen Konoplyanka scored a late free kick to grab a 3-2 win over Rayo Vallecano for its first victory in the Spanish league.

Sevilla's injury problems, however, continue to mount. Former Juventus striker Fernando Llorente hasn't recovered from a muscle injury that sidelined him against Rayo along with Spain forward Victor "Vitolo" Machin.

That leaves Sevilla's sputtering attack to Kevin Gameiro and newcomer Ciro Immobile, who began his career in Juve's youth system.

( Source : AP )
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