Manchester City’s injury situation is well known. The champions have been hit hard by injuries in recent weeks. They drew with Crystal Palace 2-all last weekend without seven first-team players. Although there was good news yesterday with Phil Foden and Mateo Kovacic returning to training yesterday. But ahead of Manchester City’s pivotal UEFA Champions League fixture against Juventus, there doesn’t appear to be any relief in sight to Manchester City’s injury crisis.
Speaking ahead of his team’s Champions League clash with Juventus Pep Guardiola was asked if Mateo Kovacic and Phil Foden could feature in the match. The City manager told the media that it is unlikely that either player will play in Turin. Although he did tell the media that Mateo Kovacic could potentially play some minutes. Guardiola told the media: “*I don’t think so. Maybe a few minutes for Kova but I don’t think so. But it’s nice to have them here to the team, to the training sessions and to travel with us.*”
Guardiola was also asked about the condition of Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji. The pair suffered injuries during City’s 3-nil win over Nottingham Forest last week. He told the media that he is unsure when either will return: “*I don’t know. Nathan will be longer than Manu but I don’t know [how long]. It’s the same [challenge] like we had in the last month, nothing changes.*”
The sight of Mateo Kovacic and Phil Foden returning to training yesterday was a welcome one. Although it appears that the upcoming Manchester derby will be when we are likely to see them return to the starting lineup. However, the news on Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji means there is no relief in sight just yet to Manchester City’s injury crisis.