Akanji to miss weeks for City
Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City, said on Friday that his team will be without the services of defender Manuel Akanji for between 8 to 10 weeks due to a muscular injury that will require surgery, another blow for a team already plagued by injuries.
The Swiss center-back was substituted during a 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League at the Etihad Stadium earlier this week.
His absence will be a significant blow to City, who are preparing for two Premier League matches against Newcastle United on Saturday and league leaders Liverpool on February 23, as well as the second-leg clash in the Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid in Madrid on Wednesday.
Guardiola said: “Akanji will undergo surgery on Saturday and will be out for between 8 to 10 weeks. It’s an injury to his adductor muscle. I wish him a speedy recovery because the effort he has put in this season has been incredible. There was a lack of players in this position, and his body couldn’t handle it.”
The Newcastle match could be crucial as the two teams are competing for a top-four finish to qualify for Europe next season.
Guardiola’s team currently sits in fifth place with 41 points from 24 matches, two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, while Eddie Howe’s sixth-placed Newcastle is level on points with City.
City suffered another late collapse against Real Madrid on Tuesday, conceding two goals in the 86th and 92nd minutes, leaving their Champions League campaign hanging by a thread.
Guardiola was asked about how difficult it would be to recover from this setback, to which he replied: “We have recovered and overcome the defeat. We need to improve and move forward.”
Newcastle has not beaten City in any league match since a 2-1 win in 2019, although Guardiola acknowledged that his team has been underperforming recently.
When asked to identify the difficulties his team is facing, Guardiola said: “It’s not just one aspect. If it were, it would be easy to fix. We used to always play comfortably when we had the ball, and now we’re not. After that, you rely on physical strength, and that’s an area where we are far behind other teams.”
Guardiola is also likely to miss Jack Grealish on Saturday after he was forced off against Real Madrid.
He said: “His situation isn’t as bad as Akanji’s. I don’t know if he’ll be ready for Saturday. I don’t think he will, but we will assess him in the coming hours.”
