Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji has been ruled out of their crucial Champions League second leg against Real Madrid next Wednesday.
Akanji was forced off at half time in the 3-2 defeat to Los Blancos in the first leg of their knockout playoff tie on Tuesday night at the Etihad.
City led 1-0 at the interval, and despite Erling Haaland's penalty shortly after a Kylian Mbappe equaliser, Pep Guardiola's side still went on to lose, with two Real goals in the final four minutes.
The English champions now face an uphill task to turn the tie around, and they will have to do so without one of their key defenders.
Akanji ruled out the foreseeable future
While manager Guardiola is yet to confirm Akanji's absence, BBC Sport have revealed that the 29-year-old will miss the return leg, as well as the visit of Liverpool in the Premier League next weekend, with a muscle injury.
Guardiola was not asked about the Swiss international's condition post-match, despite him being subbed off at the interval.
While Akanji will miss the crunch encounters with Real Madrid and Liverpool, the report further states that he could be sidelined for a significant period of time.
More may become clear when Guardiola speaks to the press on Friday before City's fixture with Newcastle United at the weekend, when a timeframe may be placed on the defender's return.
How could Guardiola deal with Akanji's absence?
Akanji has been one of the most-used players in the entire City squad this season, so his absence will come as something of a shock to Guardiola.
Ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu next week, Vitor Reis is not in Man City's Champions League squad, so the recent recruit from Palmeiras will not be available.
Fellow new signing Abdukodir Khusanov is in the squad though, but after his nervy debut against Chelsea, Guardiola may be reluctant to throw him into the starting XI at a venue such as the Bernabeu.
Instead, there could be plenty of shifting in position among the City lineup, especially considering Guardiola started with five recognised centre-backs in the first leg.
Rico Lewis was the man brought on to replace Akanji, who started at right-back, but John Stones could also fill in there, moving back from central midfield, with Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake unlikely to be dislodged in the heart of the City defence. body check tags ::
