January transfer window signing Nico Gonzalez suffered an unspecified injury in his Manchester City debut. He had to subbed off in City’s 2-1 win at Leyton Orient in the FA Cup 4th round. “I don’t know how hard [the knock] is, but he could not continue,” said City manager Pep Guardiola. It remains to be seen how long Nico Gonzalez could be out, but we doubt he’ll be ready for the next match, because it’s already almost here.
Elsewhere Nathan Aké remains a doubt, having not played since 14 January due to an unspecified muscular problem.
UEFA Champions League Playoff Round FYIs
Real Madrid at Manchester City
Kickoff: Tue. Feb. 11, 8pm, The Etihad, Manchester, UK
Team News for Both Sides: go here
Starting XI Predictions: Manchester City Real Madrid
Google Result Probability Manchester City 42% Draw 25% Real Madrid 33%
Team News for Both Sides
Meanwhile starting goalkeeper Ederson has missed City’s last two games with an undisclosed problem. Are you noticing a theme here? Yes, Pep/City are as stealth as can be when it comes to injury information.
Jérémy Doku has been out for five matches with a muscle injury (again that is all they have bothered to tell us) and we’re not sure when he’ll return. Oscar Bobb (broken foot) is still working his way back while Rodri is of course out for the season (recovery from cruciate ligament repair surgery).
Shifting gears to Los Blancos, Antonio Rüdiger picked up a thigh muscle injury against Espanyol and his timeline for return is unknown. David Alaba has unfortunately seen his injury hard luck continue.
He recovered from an ACL tear, only to later suffered an adductor injury five days ago, and it’s back to the sidelines, for awhile, for him.
Dani Carvajal and Éder Militão remains out for the season with cruciate ligament injuries
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.
