Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that the club could be ‘in big trouble’ after key duo, Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker hobbled off injured in their Champions League meeting with Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano.
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Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker were substituted against Atletico Madrid as a result of injuries.
The match, expected to be hugely physical encounter did not disappoint as Diego Simeone’s side, famed for their use of football’s dark arts were once again at it, and the City duo came out of the clash as casualties.
Premier League club Manchester City held on for a goalless draw and sealed progression 1-0 on aggregate to the semi finals of the Champions League for the second time under their Spanish manager, Guardiola.
This progression however was at the cost of two of their most important players as first Kevin De Bruyne was substituted in the 65th minute while Kyle Walker went down two minutes later after a 50-50 with Renan Lodi before eventually replaced by Nathan Ake 17 minutes from time.
Guardiola told BT Sport after the game: ‘We are in big trouble, so we can’t forget we played three days ago, travelled, come here, have a lot of injuries now and I don’t know what will happen in the next weeks but today we celebrate because it is the third time in Manchester City’s history we are in the Champions League semi finals.’
(Photo by Diego Souto/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
‘We cannot play all the time and score four or five goals, we are human beings – we come from a difficult game against Liverpool.’
De Bruyne’s injury came as a result of him chasing after a ball, which means the injury is muscular while Walker landed heavily on his ankle and was unable to continue as Guardiola had to call on Nathan Ake.
Belgian midfielder, De Bruyne walked off gingerly when he was replaced and City will hope it is only a minor problem.
City have 12 matches over the next six weeks and harbour ambitions of winning the FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League.
It seems unlikely that De Bruyne and Walker will be fit in time to face Liverpool this weekend in their Emirates FA Cup semi final meeting in Wembley, which could give the advantage to Jurgen Klopp’s men, many of whom did not start in their second leg draw with Benfica on Wednesday night at Anfield.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
