Man City take on Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final this season and Pep might be without some very important players for the 1st leg.
The 1st leg will be played at the Etihad Stadium and defenders Kyle Walker and John Stones are still doubts for this match.
Walker is recovering from an ankle knock from the Atletico game while Stones has muscle tightness and both these players have not taken part in training for several days.
“They are doubts, they didn’t train for the last week, ten days, John since Brighton. We will see how they feel, and take a decision tomorrow,” Guardiola revealed.
“We have a training session this afternoon at 4. We will see how they feel.
“We have time tonight and tomorrow morning to decide. I have to see today’s session to decide.”
❌ João Cancelo
❓ Kyle Walker
❓ John StonesGabriel Jesus will NOT be played at right-back despite Man City being without a recognised right-back following suggestions made towards Pep Guardiola. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/2NOvRqD7id
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 25, 2022
Will Man City face defensive issues against Real Madrid?
If Kyle Walker and John Stones fail the late fitness test then Pep Guardiola is in for a lot of trouble because Joao Cancelo is also missing through suspension.
If all these three players are absent then Nathan Ake and Zinchenko will be the two full-backs and this is clearly a recipe for disaster.
Vinicius Jr and Valverde are going to have a field day if Ake and Zinchenko are playing on their respective wings and this could be the major fault line in Man City’s XI on Tuesday night.
John Stones’ absence will not be an issue for the Man City boss because Ruben Dias and Laporte are more than apt to face and come out with flying colours vs Madrid.
Pep really needs at least Walker to get back to full fitness so that he can play on the right with Nathan Ake operating on the left-hand side. The manager also has a tendency to overthink things so it won’t be a big surprise if Guardiola chooses to use a 3-4-2-1 formation with Ake, Dias and Laporte playing as the three central defenders along with players like Bernardo Silva and Zinchenko operating as the wing-backs.