{"id":638189,"date":"2024-04-05T10:42:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T14:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=638189"},"modified":"2024-04-05T10:42:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T14:42:45","slug":"manchester-city-kyle-walker-return-real-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/04\/05\/manchester-city-kyle-walker-return-real-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cExceptional\u201d Manchester City Defender Could Return for Real Madrid Clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester City hope to have Kyle Walker back in time for their crucial match against Real Madrid in the Champions League. The experienced defender has missed his side\u2019s last two games with injury.<\/p>\n<h2>Manchester City Defender Eyeing Return Against Real Madrid<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"THREE WAY WAR - Who Wins The Premier League?\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6XQStPx9Lw0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>A Key Player<\/h3>\n<p>Walker was among Bayern Munich\u2019s main transfer targets last summer as the German giants hoped to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/sports\/soccer\/man-citys-walker-was-close-joining-bayern-2023-09-04\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sign him<\/a> alongside Harry Kane. However, Man City eventually convinced him to stay at Etihad and sign a two-year contract extension.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/03\/22\/champions-league-last-eight-draw-analysis\/\" target=\"_self\">UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals Draw Analysis<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The decision to keep Walker has paid off, with the England international continuing his key role in City\u2019s backline. Pep Guardiola\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2023\/sep\/15\/manchester-city-players-convinced-kyle-walker-to-stay-says-pep-guardiola\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">exceptional<\/a>\u201d right-back has stayed away from serious fitness issues so far this season. However, a minor hamstring injury (picked up during England\u2019s friendly match against Brazil) has kept him sidelined for the past two weeks.<\/p>\n<h3>A Timely Return?<\/h3>\n<p>Walker missed Man City\u2019s Premier League matches against Arsenal and Aston Villa upon his return from international duty. Guardiola has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mancity.com\/news\/mens\/pep-guardiola-manchester-city-aston-villa-injury-update-63847652\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ruled out<\/a> the 33-year-old for this weekend\u2019s match against Crystal Palace. However, he might still have a chance to return in time for his side\u2019s trip to Santiago Bernabeu.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/03\/22\/michael-owen-predicts-premier-league-winners\/\" target=\"_self\">\u2018Best Team In The World\u2019: Ex-Man Utd Player Backs Rivals To Win Premier League Title<\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/story\/_\/id\/39872143\/man-city-sweat-walker-fitness-real-madrid-sources\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ESPN<\/a>, City still hope that Walker could speed up his recovery and regain full fitness ahead of their match against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.<\/p>\n<p>Having the former Tottenham star back would be a major squad boost for the Citizens. However, he\u2019s not the only injury concern for the treble defenders.<\/p>\n<h3>Manchester City Injury List<\/h3>\n<p>Similar to Walker, John Stones came back from England\u2019s camp with an injury. The centre-back remained an unused substitute against Arsenal and Aston Villa. However, he is ready to make his return against Crystal Palace on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/02\/27\/manchester-city-oscar-bobb-contract-extension\/\" target=\"_self\">Citizens Agree Contract Extension For Emerging Premier League Talent<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nathan Ake, who limped off the pitch against Arsenal last weekend, is yet to return to team training. The Dutchman is expected to miss the Real Madrid match with a calf injury.<\/p>\n<p>Another major injury concern is that of Ederson. The Brazilian goalkeeper has stayed out of action since City\u2019s 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield before the international break. However, Guardiola has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/articles\/crg6yg1w6j0o\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">revealed<\/a> that he could return to the squad against Crystal Palace on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester City hope to have Kyle Walker back in time for their crucial match against Real Madrid in the Champions League. The experienced defender has missed his side\u2019s last two games with injury. Manchester City Defender Eyeing Return Against Real Madrid A Key Player Walker was among Bayern Munich\u2019s main transfer targets last summer as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5073,"featured_media":638255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,378,1830,17,3],"tags":[2880,288,1226,181],"class_list":["post-638189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-champions-league","category-injuries","category-manchester-city","category-premier-league","tag-ederson","tag-kyle-walker","tag-nathan-ake","tag-pep-guardiola"],"modified_by":"Declan Wiseman, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5073"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}