Manchester City have received mixed injury news on the eve of their must-win Champions League trip to Real Madrid this week.
Erling Haaland looks to have recovered from the knee injury suffered at the end of Manchester City’s win over Newcastle ahead of the Champions League trip to Real Madrid this week.
Haaland looked to buckle his knee in the dying seconds of City’s weekend clash, looking in pain and receiving treatment on the pitch. But he walked off unaided and later did his usual lap of the Etihad pitch post-match and Pep Guardiola said he hoped Haaland had no lasting issue ahead of Tuesday’s flight to Madrid.
Haaland trained on Tuesday morning to ease concerns and Guardiola will offer a more detailed update on his fitness when he faces the media at the Bernabeu later in the evening.
And in more good news for Guardiola, he also welcomed back Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Jack Grealish to training after all three missed the win over Newcastle.
Dias reported as not fully fit at the weekend while Ake was sick and Grealish was still suffering from the issue that forced him off in the first leg defeat to Madrid last week.
Guardiola had said on Haaland, Ake and Dias on Saturday: “When [Haaland] was down everyone was scared. He got up, walked [off] smiling like always. I didn’t speak to him but they didn’t come for bad news. Hopefully [he can play in Madrid].
“Ruben said, ‘I’m not ready to play 90 minutes [vs Newcastle], maybe 15-20’, but having Vitor [Reis] on the bench, I wouldn’t risk. And Nathan have sick [problems], and problems after the game against Madrid, so both were not ready to play.”
Also training were youngsters Justin Oboavwoduo and Stephen Mfuni. Vitor Reis trained but has not been included in the Champions League squad so won’t travel to Spain.
Full Man City training squad vs Real Madrid: Ederson, Ortega, Carson, Ake, Stones, Nunes, Dias, Mfuni, Gvardiol, Lewis, Khusanov, Reis*, Gonzalez, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo, De Bruyne, Oboavwoduo, Foden, Grealish, Savinho, Doku, McAtee, Marmoush, Haaland.