John Stones Injury Setback: How Manchester City Could be "In Trouble"

Key Highlights :

1. Pep Guardiola has claimed Manchester City could be "in trouble" following John Stones' latest injury setback.

2. Stones only returned to action in October after a two-month lay-off with hamstring and hip problems. Manager Guardiola said he feared the 29-year-old could be out "for a while" with the muscular problem and described the blow as "deep bad news".

3. Stones has been revelatory for City playing in a hybrid defence-midfield role and Guardiola feels he complements central anchor Rodri perfectly. Much was made of the fact Rodri was suspended when City lost three successive games earlier in the campaign, but Guardiola believes the absence of Stones was equally crucial.

4. City hardly broke sweat as they brushed past the Swiss champions to secure their place in the last 16 for an 11th consecutive year. The holders have won all four of their matches in Group G and are through with two matches to spare.

5. Opposition captain Mohamed Ali Camara even asked to swap shirts with the 23-year-old at half-time, something which drew criticism in some quarters. “I’m a little bit surprised about that right now,” admitted Young Boys coach Raphael Wicky, whose side failed to muster a single shot and had midfielder Sandro Lauper sent off in the second half.

     Manchester City are awaiting assessments of John Stones after he was forced off with a knock in Tuesday’s Champions League match against Young Boys. The treble winners were dealt a major blow with the injury to the England defender, who only returned to action in October after a two-month lay-off with hamstring and hip problems.

     Pep Guardiola has claimed that City could be “in trouble” following the setback and described the news as “deep bad”. Stones has been an integral part of City’s defence this season in a hybrid defence-midfield role, and Guardiola believes he complements central anchor Rodri perfectly.

     The absence of Stones was felt earlier in the campaign when City lost three successive games, with much focus on Rodri’s suspension. However, Guardiola believes that the absence of Stones was equally crucial. He said: “The problem is we play John and Rodri at the same time – now we are in trouble, because we have to play a bit differently, like happened in Arsenal.”

     City were able to brush past the Swiss champions in the 3-0 Champions League stroll, with Erling Haaland making light of the ankle problem that curtailed him against Bournemouth last weekend to open the scoring with a penalty. The 23-year-old added the third goal with a powerful long-range strike and has now scored 39 goals in 34 career Champions League appearances and 15 in all competitions this season.

     Opposition captain Mohamed Ali Camara even asked to swap shirts with Haaland at half-time, something which drew criticism in some quarters. However, Guardiola was not concerned with the incident, saying: “It’s not normal, but I don’t know the reason why it happened. It’s not a big subject for me right now.”

     City’s remaining task in the group will be to secure top spot, and a theoretically favourable draw, in the first knockout round. They face second-placed RB Leipzig at home later this month before wrapping up the stage at Red Star Belgrade. Midfielder Matheus Nunes said: “We cannot look at those two games as spare because we want to get through as first place, and that’s what we will try to do now.”

     While the injury to John Stones is a major blow for Manchester City, they are still in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. However, the absence of Stones could cause Guardiola’s side to struggle, as they have been accustomed to playing with the England defender in a hybrid defence-midfield role. City will now have to adjust their style of play to cope with the injury setback, and Guardiola will be hoping that the assessment of Stones’ injury is not as bad as first feared.

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