If the Premier League and FA Cup winners can finally add the European trophy to their trophy case, they would have completed a historic trifecta.
Even though City is the clear favourites, the Italian giants will undoubtedly have something to say about that since, to steal a phrase, it’s just 11 against 11, and anything can happen.
Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez, among others, won’t appreciate being removed before the ball is even played, and that’s probably enough to spur the underdogs on.
In any case, Pep Guardiola seems worried that one of his starters would be in danger of missing the championship game.
Kyle Walker‘s manager was quoted by The Independent as saying, “He has had a little bit of a disturbance in his back,” during a press conference on Tuesday.
“He wasn’t doing well yesterday; he was a little bit better today, but we didn’t want to take any chances. We’ll find out in the upcoming days.
The player, though, has made an effort to ease any worries that he wouldn’t be acting.
According to Walker, who was quoted by the Manchester Evening News as saying, “I’m fine, I’m just getting old,”
“I’m absolutely OK; it just takes a little longer to recuperate. The manager advised me to stay inside because I had been playing a lot of minutes over the previous few weeks. Come Saturday, he continued, “You will be ready to go.”
“I’m alright. During the minutes when I was on the pitch and everyone else was hurt, I dug in and made it through. I have no intention of skipping the Champions League championship game.
Given how crucial Walker has become to Guardiola’s new system, the manager would have had to completely rethink how to defend against any raids down their right-hand side.
However, based on the player’s tone, it appears that there is no longer any cause for concern and Pep won’t need to make any other changes to his team for City’s biggest game of the season.