Manchester City defenders Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake have not travelled to Spain for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid.
There was some hope that both players would fit for the encounter but it has been confirmed that neither will feature at the Bernabeu on Tuesday evening.
Supporters on X are much more pessimistic about their team’s chances of getting a result with Walker and Ake absent from the squad:
This doesnβt look good ππ
β MrDwin π¨βπ¨ πΊπΈ π¬π (@MrDwein) April 8, 2024
Game over for Manchester city
β KylianHaaland (@KylianHaaland7) April 8, 2024
I’ll take a draw or a 1-0 defeat at this point
β Brian (@RicoLewis_ERA) April 8, 2024
Gvardiol needs to start, I love Rico but he canβt handle Vini
β belyikrim (@belyikrim) April 8, 2024
Weβre losing
β JJ (@minMcfc) April 8, 2024
It’s either Akanji starts at RB or lb. The smart choice will be to start at RB and have Rico at lb, or Grealish.
β R0DRl ROLE 1οΈβ£6οΈβ£ (@Ana__Muhammad) April 8, 2024
Rico Lewis and Sergio Gomez fullback pairing. We are finished. If it took Palace 3 minutes to score how are we gonna cope with Real?
β The-Sky-Blues β π (@ManCitty9320) April 8, 2024
Others will have to step up in their absence
There is no doubt that Walker and Ake would have started against Real due to their defensive capabilities.
Walker, in particular, has been able to keep the dangerous Vinicius Jr quiet in previous meetings. However, that responsibility will now fall to Rico Lewis or even Manuel Akanji.
City need to stay in the tie
Considering the issues that the reigning European champions have defensively, the goal must be to ensure they are still in contention for the second leg at the Etihad in a week’s time.
Of course, that may be easier said than done but, with the firepower that City have at their disposal, you wouldn’t bet against them causing a lot of problems for Real at the other end of the pitch as well.
