Before facing Real Madrid.. Guardiola admits: “We are in big trouble”

Pep Guardiola admitted that Manchester City may be “in big trouble” before facing Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final after overcoming Atletico Madrid in a difficult match.

As expected, it was a massive physical encounter at the Wanda Metropolitano against Diego Simeone’s team, famous for their use of the dark arts in football.

Citi fought hard to finish 0-0 and lead 1-0 on aggregate. But Guardiola was left wondering how much that qualification would cost after seeing Walker and De Bruyne out within eight minutes in the second half.

Guardiola told BT Sport: ‘We are in big trouble, so we can’t forget that we played three days ago, we traveled, we came here, we have a lot of injuries now and I don’t know what will happen in the coming weeks but we celebrate today because it’s the time. The third in the history of Manchester City that we play the semi-finals of the Champions League.

He added: “We can’t play all the time and score four or five goals, we’re human – we came from a tough game against Liverpool.”

De Bruyne, who has had his share of injuries in the past, appeared to have a muscle problem while chasing the ball. He left very cautiously when he was substituted and City will hope it’s only a minor problem.

Walker landed hard on his ankle and tried to play, but it soon became clear that he was unable to continue.

Manchester City has 12 games to play over the next six weeks and aims to win the FA Cup, the Champions League and the Premier League.

It seems unlikely that De Bruyne and Walker will be fit in time to face Liverpool this weekend, which could give an advantage to Jurgen Klopp’s side, who rested many of their players in the second leg against Benfica on Wednesday night.

City fans will be in desperate need of the news that both players are only handicapped by short-term issues and can contribute over the coming weeks.

Source: Daily Mail