Pep Guardiola admits Man City are in ‘big trouble’ after injuries in clash with Atletico Madrid

The Man City manager admits his side’s night out in Madrid may have come at a price despite his side’s progress to the Champions League semi-finals

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Atletico Madrid vs Man City: match in pictures

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admitted his side were in “huge trouble” after suffering double injury damage Champions League Quarterfinals vs Atlético Madrid.

It was a bloody encounter for them First League champions who eventually edged past the Spanish side to set up a semi-final encounter real Madrid. However, the win may also have come at a cost as Guardiola lost both Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker to second-half injuries.

De Bruyne appeared to walk away a little cautiously after apparently suffering a muscle injury after chasing the ball down. Moments later, Kyle Walker landed heavily on his ankle and – despite his attempts to continue – was unable to 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 one to come FA Cup semifinals against Liverpool.

This will be the start of a run that could span 12 games in total over six weeks, with a potential FA Cup final alongside seven more rounds of Premier League action and the Champions League Semi-finals and possibly the final.

Guardiola’s side could still win a treble this season but their lead at the top of the Premier League is a single point and the next month and a half will define their entire season.

When asked about the injuries sustained after the game, Guardiola replied: “We’re in big trouble. We played against a strong Liverpool three days ago, we travel, we come here and we have a lot of injuries at the moment. I’m not sure what’s going to happen in the next few weeks, but yes we’re going to celebrate at home. It’s the third time in Man City’s history that we’re in the semi-finals of the Champions League. It is a great success for us and we are happy to be part of it.”

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The City manager also admitted that despite his team’s territorial advantage in the second leg, his side needed to step up in the last half of the second leg: “We can’t play all the time and score four or five goals . We are humans. We came from a difficult game against Liverpool, we played well in the first half but in the second half we had to live without the ball. We count 180 minutes, the last 45, Atletico was better.”

City now meet the current La Liga leaders in the last four rounds of the Champions League, while Liverpool meet Villarreal in the other semi-final.