Man City suffer double injury blow with Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker forced off in Atletico tie
KEVIN DE BRUYNE and Kyle Walker were forced off with injury in the second half against Atletico Madrid.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola brought on Raheem Sterling for De Bruyne with his side under pressure from the home side.
And what appeared to be a tactical switch later proved different as De Bruyne was seen applying ice to his leg.
The Belgian is now a doubt for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final clash with Liverpool.
Minutes later Kyle Walker went down injured after colliding with Lodi following a clearance.
The England star underwent treatment on the pitch and initially continued before the problem meant he too had to be taken off.
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In the first half Guardiola told Jack Grealish to warm up after Phil Foden suffered a nasty-looking gash on his head.
The winger was hit hard from behind by Atletico defender Felipe who somehow evaded punishment for his challenge.
Foden managed to continue after lengthy on-pitch treatment – he appeared in the second half with a big bandage after ditching the physio’s first makeshift effort.
Felipe was sent off for a second yellow after again fouling Foden late on- Stefan Savic then went to pick up the City star and sparked a huge brawl between both sets of players n doing so.
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City will hope the injuries to De Bruyne and Walker are not serious, having only just welcomed back the latter in European competition following his suspension.
Guardiola’s side are still competing on three fronts with the Reds their biggest rivals for the FA Cup and Premier League.
They are still fighting to win the Champions League too for the first time after withstanding a second-half barrage from Atletico.
The Citizens meet Real Madrid in the semi-final after Carlo Ancelotti’s side again came back from behind to beat Chelsea in a Bernabeu thriller.