Aymeric Laporte will be out for up to a month with the hamstring injury suffered in Manchester City’s 2-1 win at Real Madrid on Wednesday. The central defender, who may miss six matches, is unavailable for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final and the Champions League last-16 second leg against Real on 10 March.
Laporte was forced off after 33 minutes at the Bernebéu, and Pep Guardiola indicated the problem was related to the player returning after a knee injury that kept him out for five months. The start in Madrid was only his third since a further four weeks out after an initial comeback at Sheffield United on 21 January.
“He has a hamstring injury, so that is normally three weeks or one month, more or less,” the manager said. “We tried to avoid it but unfortunately it has happened after four or five months out, then going directly into a big game. It sometimes happens.”
If he is missing for a month Laporte will also miss the FA Cup tie at Sheffield Wednesday, Sunday week’s derby at Manchester United and visits to Burnley and Chelsea.
Guardiola said: “It is tough but they have to overcome these situations. Life is not easy and always in the world the people who survive overcome the bad moments. The guys who don’t play are guys who say they can’t face it, [that] ‘the world is against me’.
“Injuries are the same. If you think, ‘I am an unlucky guy’, you will not improve. It is what it is. Accept it and work harder to come back in the best condition as possible.”
Guardiola has to contend with the two-year Champions League ban hanging over the club, the Premier League’s investigation into whether City breached its financial fair play regulations and other off-field challenges, including allegations that his emails were hacked.
He was asked whether this made it a unique season. “A little bit, yeah,” he said. “Johan Cruyff told me once: ‘The problem with managers at big clubs is that 70% is issues off the pitch, and 20-30% is on the pitch.’ In that time, I thought he’s crazy but again, he was true. You have to handle it.”