UCL: Alaba may miss second leg against Manchester City
City have their own injury problems. John Stones, the centre back, is a doubt due to a hamstring injury that kept him out of their 4-0 win over Leeds United
Manchester City have received a boost before their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid after David Alaba missed training again on Monday, casting doubt on his availability for Wednesday’s second leg.
The 29-year-old centre back, who has been one of Real’s best players this season, has not trained with his teammates since suffering an adductor muscle injury in the first leg, which City won 4-3.
Carlo Ancelotti, the Real head coach, had hoped that Alaba would recover for the second leg at the Bernabéu, but the Austrian is unlikely to be fit.
Ancelotti is set to replace him with Nacho, who has started only four La Liga matches this calendar year.
Gareth Bale, the Wales forward, is also a doubt as he is suffering from a back injury that kept him out of Saturday’s 4-0 win over Espanyol, which crowned Ancelotti’s team as champions of Spain. Eden Hazard will miss the match, as he is recovering from a fibula fracture.
City have their own injury problems. John Stones, the centre back, is a doubt due to a hamstring injury that kept him out of their 4-0 win over Leeds United.
Kyle Walker, who has missed the past five matches due to an ankle problem, has been training of late, but may not be risked because João Cancelo, the Portugal right back, is available after serving a one-match suspension.
Nathan Aké was substituted 60 minutes into the victory at Elland Road due to injury concerns, but should be fit to play in the game against Real, which is set to be a 65,000 sell-out.
On Monday only a handful of VIP tickets, costing more than £300, were available for the match.
The capacity at the Bernabéu has been reduced by 20,000 while renovation works are underway at the famous stadium.
Only the knockout Champions League games against Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, and the league match against Barcelona, have been sell-outs this season.
City were forced to change their pre-match arrangements after the Four Seasons Hotel, where they stayed before their quarter-final match against Atletico Madrid, was sold out.
The squad have instead been moved to the Ritz hotel.
Ilkay Gundogan, the 31-year-old midfielder, knows that City will be in for a tough night against the record 13-times European champions.
“We are going to play in a great stadium against a great team,” Gundogan said. “They are one of the greatest teams in history so you can feel how much of a challenge it is.”
