KNOCKOUT BLOW
Madrid battle damages City FA Cup hopes
PEP GUARDIOLA will have expected tired limbs and the odd knock after what he always knew was going to be a bruising Champions League encounter in Madrid.
But when he surveys his troops at training at Millwall’s ground in south London today ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool, he may be forgiven for fearing his chances of a Treble could have been left on the field at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Injuries to Kevin
De Bruyne and
Kyle Walker left
City with what the manager described as
“big trouble” ahead of a second clash with Liverpool in six days.
Comparisons were stark. For the match against Benfica, Jurgen Klopp rested seven key players – Sadio Mane, Mo Salah, Fabinho, Thiago, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold – from the team that started the draw against City last weekend.
City, who had to battle and limp their way to the dressing room after 102 minutes of intense action on and off the pitch, will start as underdogs tomorrow afternoon in what might normally have been a spin of the coin.
“We played three days ago, travelled, came here, have a lot of injuries now and I don’t know what will happen.We are in big trouble,” said Guardiola, below. City could welcome back Ruben Dias, who was on the bench against Atletico after missing seven games with a hamstring tear. But the possible loss of De Bruyne, substituted in the second half after getting a knock to his ankle, and Walker, is a concern. City will not want to give up on their pursuit of a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup Treble, particularly with Liverpool chasing an historic Quadruple.
But if they were to assign priorities there is no doubt this weekend’s domestic cup competition would be third on the list. Speaking after their breathless and goalless draw against the Spanish champions, defensive midfielder Rodri admitted City will need to regroup.
“It was very tough and the calendar is crazy,” he said. “We have these two games against Atletico and the other day against Liverpool. You have to work 100 percent and now we have Liverpool again.
“There are too many difficult games at the same time but it is what it is. We have to refresh our minds, recover and give the best shape in the next game.
“But we need to recover, because they have been such demanding games.”
City went through a recovery session in Spain before flying back to London yesterday for their Wembley date.
Defender Aymeric Laporte, who was instrumental in keeping out Atletico’s late charge, insisted City would be ready to give their best tomorrow despite the quick turnaround. “We have the team to go to the end to win everything,” he said.
“We know that it will be tough, but we can do it and we will go for that.
“This week is something amazing that we probably don’t realise right now.
“If everything goes how we want then it can be one of the greatest weeks as a professional. We have to keep focused, keep doing what we are doing and hopefully we can win the matches.”