Despite having disbursed more than 1,000 million euros in transfers since Pep Guardiola landed in 2016 on the Etihad bench, Manchester City has found it very difficult to deal with injuries, especially this season due to the accumulation of games. Madrid will meet a citizen team caught with pins in the first leg on April 26.
With a month and a half to go until the end of the season, City has everything to decide in the three major competitions: Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup. A schedule so daunting that he was forced to fly directly from Madrid to London after the match at the Wanda Metropolitano to prepare for the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, where they will face each other again with Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool this Saturday. A fierce fight, also in the Premier, which is penalizing City in the form of casualties…
Joao Cancelo received his third yellow card in the Champions League against Atlético and will serve his suspension against Madrid, which is a very sensitive loss for Guardiola. The coach has made him the best left-back in the English championship and he will have to fill the gap with Oleksandr Zirkencho, a player with a good footing but who has barely had minutes – and confidence – this season.
It is not the only setback for City, who saw two other capital players withdraw injured against Atlético: Kevin De Bruyne felt discomfort in the 65th minute and requested the substitution, while Kyle Walker accidentally sprained his ankle in another set of the game and had to be removed from the pitch in the 73rd minute. Both are doubtful for the visit of the Madrid to the Etihad, which will take place in eleven days. That is the deadline set for the return of the two players, who are indisputable starters for Guardiola. Hence the concern about his physical condition before the final stretch of the championship.
For this final leg of the competition, however, Pep will have Rúben Dias. The centre-back was injured at the end of February, but he is now fully recovered from his hamstring injury, and in fact, he was called up for the match against Atlético. Of course, he stayed on the bench because he had only completed one training session with the rest of the group.
While Dias was recovering, Aymeric Laporte and John Stones were the defenders chosen by Guardiola, who will now have to decide who he sacrifices. Before the loss of the Portuguese defender, Stones was the least usual in the starting eleven, but his good performance in recent weeks – he was named MVP at the Metropolitano – may suggest a change in status. Madrid will be a good test to prove it.