It has been reported that two Manchester City players missed training ahead of the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola has already admitted that he is unsure whether to stick with Stefan Ortega in between the sticks or bring a fit Ederson back into the fold for the game at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Guardiola continues to be posed with more questions than answers ahead of his side’s upcoming contest as two of his key players did not train on Monday.
It may be fair to suggest that most managers would not be particularly envious of the £378,346-a-week tactician’s shoes at this moment in time.
City have the quality and experience to win the Champions League once again but the question is whether injuries stand in their way of doing so.
The prospect of facing a Real Madrid side in Europe that could potentially smell blood is a nightmare for most teams in the world.
Then again, this Manchester City juggernaut is made of sterner stuff than most.
Two Manchester City players didn’t train ahead of Real Madrid clash
In the past, the Sky Blues have showcased their resilience and won big games despite having injury problems.
Ironically enough, it was in the 2019/2020 season when City beat Real Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 in the Spanish capital, despite featuring an underperforming centre-back partnership of Nicolas Otamendi and Fernandinho.
Aymeric Laporte, who was the club’s best defender at the time got injured during the game and as a result, Fernandinho was brought on to replace him.
Los Blancos opened the scoring in the 60 minute, courtesy of a well-taken Isco finish.
However, Kevin De Bruyne led the visitors’ revival, assisting Gabriel Jesus’ opener before scoring the winner from 12 yards in the 83 minute.
In the second leg at the Etihad Stadium, the Sky Blues managed to win 2-1 as well to go through to the next round.
Even so, journalist Simon Bray wrote on X that Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol “looked like” they missed training for Manchester City ahead of their battle against Real Madrid.
Bray stated that the same applied to Kyle Walker.
However, journalist Simon Stone revealed that the Englishman trained individually.
Joe Bray did claim that the club’s young centre-backs, Lakyle Samuel and Max Alleyne trained with the first-team squad as a result.
Rico Lewis might be the best choice at left-back
If both Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol are unavailable to start for Manchester City against Real Madrid, in our view, the most sensible decision might be to deploy Rico Lewis as a left-back.
For starters, Lewis has played in that position for City in the past, such as against Burnley at the start of the season and against Tottenham away from home in the previous campaign.
Furthermore, as dangerous as Rodrygo Goes is, having to keep him quiet rather than the more established Vinicius Junior would be a comparatively less difficult, yet immensely challenging test for the 19-year-old.
Regardless, if Lewis does start, he will be playing in the biggest game of his career.