Pep Guardiola expressed his concerns after Manchester City faced another setback in their injury crisis, leaving them with only Erling Haaland and two goalkeepers available for training on Thursday.
The Man City manager reflected on the unprecedented challenges his squad is enduring, particularly following their defeat to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, a loss that could have significant repercussions.
During the warm-up, Manu Akanji was forced to withdraw due to a meniscus injury, while Savinho sustained a foot injury, prompting the team to hope that scans on Thursday will reveal no serious damage.
Furthermore, Guardiola indicated that Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, who finished the match, are also dealing with issues, and that Rico Lewis appeared “exceptionally tired.”
To exacerbate the situation, he does not anticipate any returns for Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, or Kyle Walker before the international break.
“When you have this situation with all the squad is fine but… Tomorrow we have two ‘keepers and Erling Haaland for a training session and we don’t have anything else,” said Pep Guardiola.
“We are 13 players. We are in real difficulty but we have to make the effort.
“The guys who played, most finished with problems and we will see how they recover.
“I think when we are in trouble like we are – because in nine years I have never had this many injuries for this many reasons – in these situations, the players make a step forward, they are more together than ever and we will try to do this week in a short time for recovery.
“[Savinho] had a knock in the 18-yard box for a potential penalty and we will see tomorrow what happened.
“We have to see just a knock, or maybe something else. It was in the bone.
“Hopefully it is nothing dangerous but we will see tomorrow.
“Akanji yesterday in the last action felt something muscular in the meniscus and today in the warm-up he didn’t feel good. He said he could take a risk but I said no.
“Ruben is struggling sometimes as well. It’s been getting more difficult game by game but maybe one day we will be all together.”
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