Pep Guardiola confirms Man City star set to miss Real Madrid second leg through injury

Pep Guardiola has confirmed Nathan Ake will not be fit in time for Manchester City’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Los Blancos travel to the Etihad for the semi-final second leg with the score level at 1-1 following the first meeting at the Bernabeu last week. Vinicius Junior and Kevin De Bruyne netted the only goals of the game which leaves the tie nicely poised ahead of the reverse fixture in Manchester.

Guardiola will also be delighted that he came through Sunday’s win over Everton without any fresh injuries. Asked for the latest team news ahead of the game, Guardiola said: Except Nathan, everyone is fit.”

The Dutch defender has missed the last two games after picking up an injury against Leeds United recently, while Ake also was unavailable for three matches at the end of April with a hamstring issue.

In his absence, Guardiola is expected to name either Aymeric Laporte or Manuel Akanji at left-back. Both played at the weekend at Goodison Park, with the latter operating on the left-hand side, but Laporte might be selected against Real given he is left-footed.

Kyle Walker was chosen as the player to conduct Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, usually an indication he’ll start. The ex-Tottenham Hotspur man should play at right-back, with Ruben Dias and John Stones at the heart of defence.

While City have just one injury concern, Real have four doubts ahead of the game with some uncertainty surrounding the fitness of David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga, Rodrygo and Karim Benzema, although the quartet were all named in the travelling squad on Monday.