Aymeric Laporte’s injury is a consequence of coming back into the Manchester City team after a long time out, Pep Guardiola has explained.
Laporte went down in the 32nd minute and looked devastated as he limped off the pitch and had to be replaced by Fernandinho . The centre back has missed the majority of this campaign with a cruciate knee injury and the 2-1 win against Real Madrid was only his fourth game back after recovering from his earlier set back.
He was brought off as a precaution in the win against Leicester but had been feeling fit after his return from injury. But Guardiola said the injury that forced Laporte off on Wednesday night was due to his previous injury.
“He’s injured,” Guardiola said. “He’s had four or five months and it’s a problem when you come back, and he came back in this demanding game and we wanted him to be fit to the end.”
The injury will be a blow to City with the League Cup final coming up this weekend but Guardiola is confident they have strength in depth to deal with a Laporte absence.
“With John (Stones), Nico (Otamendi), Eric (Garcia), Ferna, we can get through,” the manager said.
