Red Bulls had billed the game as a “must-win match” but the defending champions could only fire blanks to find themselves third-bottom, albeit with a couple of games in hand on the teams around them.
The disappointed 11,600 crowd included City spy Attilio Lombardo, whose report will doubtless make interesting reading for manager Mancini as he prepares to tackle an intriguingly tricky Europa League opener.
Roberto’s old club Sampdoria made sure Juventus didn’t warm up for Europe with a win, claiming a Serie A point with a thrilling 3-3 draw against a Juve side that has still not been able to celebrate victory this season.
It was Alessandro del Piero’s 17th anniversary with Juve, but the skipper couldn’t quite conjure a fairytale winner. Claudio Marchisio, Simone Pepe and Fabio Quagliarella scored for the home side.
Lech Poznan, who start their Europa League campaign in Italy on Thursday, managed a 2-1 win at strugglers Slask with a second-half winner from striker Artjoms Rudnevs after midfielder Slawomir Peszko’s opener.
