Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admitted his side were in “big trouble” after suffering a double injury blow in their Champions League quarter final against Atletico Madrid.
It was a bruising encounter for the Premier League champions, who ultimately edged past the Spanish side to set up a semi-final encounter against Real Madrid. Yet the win also may have come at a cost as Guardiola lost both Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker to second half injuries.
De Bruyne appeared to walk off somewhat gingerly after sustaining what appeared to be a muscular injury after chasing the ball down. Moments later, Kyle Walker landed heavily on his ankle and – despite his attempts to carry on – could not continue. There is no natural replacement for the England international in City’s squad (Nathan Ake was his replacement in the Wanda) and both injuries will leave Guardiola sweating ahead of the upcoming FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool.
That will be the start of a run which could encompass a total of 12 matches in the space of six weeks, with a potential FA Cup final thrown in alongside seven more rounds of Premier League action and the Champions League semi-finals and, possibly, the final.
Guardiola’s side could yet win a treble this season but their lead at the top of the Premier League is a solitary point and the next month-and-a-half will define their entire season.
When asked about the injuries after the match, Guardiola responded: “We are in big trouble. We played three days ago against a tough Liverpool, travel, come here and have a lot of injuries right now. I’m not sure what will happen in the next weeks but, yeah we will celebrate at home. It’s the third time in Man City history that we are in semi-finals of the Champions League. For us, it’s a big success and we are happy to be there.”
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The City boss also admitted that, despite all of his side’s territorial advantage across the two-legged tie, that his side had to dig in across the final half of the second leg: “We cannot play all the time and score four or five goals. We are human beings. We arrived from a difficult game against Liverpool, first half we did well but second half we had to live without the ball. We count 180 minutes, the last 45, Atletico were better.”
City will now face current La Liga leaders at the final four stage of the Champions League as Liverpool take on Villarreal in the other semi-final.
