Manchester City appear to have several fitness concerns after last night’s defeat

Following last night’s heartbreaking Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid, there are several fitness concerns out of last night’s game for Manchester City. Given that Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea is only days away, it could possibly cause selection headaches for Pep Guardiola.

As last night’s game entered extra time, there were eyebrows raised when Erling Haaland was replaced by Julian Alvarez. Given the possibility of a penalty shootout looming, it appeared a strange decision from Pep Guardiola to substitute arguably City’s best penalty taker. But speaking after City’s defeat, the Manchester City manager revealed that Haaland couldn’t continue to play. Guardiola also revealed that Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji also reached the point of exhaustion and asked to be substituted.

Speaking post-game, Pep Guardiola explained his substitutions. He told the media: “Erling and Kevin asked me to go out. They could not continue, like Manu. They were playing amazing, and I’m not a big fan of so many substitutions. But Kevin, Erling, and Manu asked me to go out because they could not continue. Now we rest. Tomorrow we come back. On Friday we travel to London to play the game. We will see. Of course, we will see how people will react. Of course, the recovery is easier when winning than losing, but it is the semi-final of the FA Cup, and we will try to compete as much as possible.”

It will take a Herculean effort for Manchester City to back up on Saturday against Chelsea. Given the physical and mental condition of the City squad after last night’s defeat, it will be a tough task to lift the City players ahead of another big game.