Man City's problems deepen as Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake & Jack Grealish miss Newcastle clash ahead of Champions League mission impossible against Real Madrid

Pep Guardiola made six changes to the team that faced Real Madrid in the Champions League, with Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne all dropping out of the lineup. Some of that was to rest and rotate ahead of heading to the Spanish capital in the coming days, but some of it was enforced due to injuries. Of the six to be withdrawn, only Silva and De Bruyne made the bench for the visit of Newcastle. There was at least a home debut for January signing Nico Gonzalez.

Akanji and Grealish were already ruled out of the game through injuries suffered in the first Real Madrid game. The Manchester Evening News has reported that, despite arriving at the Etihad with the rest of the squad, Dias and Ake were not considered fully fit to play. Their continued absence on Wednesday would be a huge blow, with City already facing an aggregate deficit.

Manchester City have failed in attempts to rally support from other Premier League clubs to delay the start of next season. City are playing in the reformatted FIFA Club World Cup in June and July, which ends only 34 days before the 2025-26 campaign begins. Pep Guardiola has even claimed that the only way to cope with the overloaded schedule is to have financially unsustainable 40-player squads.

City have to hope and pray that Ake and Dias will be available to face Real Madrid. Without them, it throws 20-year-old January signing Abdukodir Khusanov in at the deepest of deep ends, potentially about to make his Champions League debut against the reigning 15-time champions.