According to Ben Dinnery of Premier Injuries, Aymeric Laporte could be sidelined for ‘3-4 weeks’ after picking up a ‘hamstring strain’ in Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid (February 26). The 25-year-old was replaced by Fernandinho after only 33 minutes and now faces a race to return in time for their second leg (March 17).
Laporte has made eight appearances in all competitions this season, racking up only 541 minutes of playing time. He picked up a serious knee injury in August 2019 that kept him out of action until January 2020, but his return has been shortlived as he’s suffered a setback in his recovery.
The French international made four appearances in the last five-and-a-half weeks and didn’t play a full 90 minutes in any of the games, but Laporte still broke down and picked up a muscle injury.
City have had to make do without Laporte for most of the season, so Pep Guardiola won’t hesitate to give Fernandinho the nod in his stead, but the defending champions will rue his loss as they’ve won seven (87.5%), drawn one (12.5%) and kept five clean sheets in his eight appearances.