John Stones was absent at the weekend for Manchester City, but apparently, it’s only just a knock. The club hopes he’ll return for Wednesday night against Real Madrid. Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake returned to the bench for the 5-1 whooping of Luton Town. Perhaps they will play a larger role into the midweek continental clash.
And obviously, for all the talk about Rodri being so exhausted and fatigued…he was also available enough to be named to the bench.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid FYIs
Kickoff: Wed. Apr 17, 8pm, Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
Competition: UCL quarterfinals, Leg 2/2, Aggregate 3-3
Team News: ย Real Madridย ย ย Man City
Starting XI Predictions:ย ย Real Madridย ย ย Man City
90 Min Result Probability:ย ย Real Madridย 19%ย ย Drawย 22%ย Manchester Cityย 59%
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Man City Team Newsย
City manager Pep Guardiola spoke of the situation surrounding Stones: “He has some problems, some niggles. He’s fine! He’s not injured, but he felt uncomfortable.” Otherwise Guardiola has no new injury concerns heading into this one, and it just goes to show you that his rhetoric about his side being in “big, big trouble” due to fatigue and injury was all gamesmanship.
Don’t believe one single bit of all that nonsense.
The Cityzens returned to the top of the Premier League table this weekend, and they’re sitting pretty in the FA Cup and UCL competitions as well.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
He currently contributes toย Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMGโs NFL Wire Networkย and theย Internet Baseball Writers Association of America.ย His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated,ย Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times.ย You can follow himย onย Twitter.
