Real Madrid defender David Alaba is almost certainly out of Tuesday's crunch Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester City.
Alaba was already a major doubt to feature against City on Wednesday, having been forced off at half-time against Osasuna last month and missing the weekend victory over Espanyol.
There were initial hopes that the 29-year-old, who only managed to play the first half of the first leg against City at the Etihad Stadium, may have been back in contention this week.
But despite his best efforts by putting in extra recovery work at the training ground in recent days, Alaba has lost his race against the clock to be fit and was not part of the final session with the rest of his teammates on Tuesday morning.
Nacho, who replaced Alaba in Manchester last week, is expected to start in his place, having been unavailable against Espanyol because of a one-game domestic suspension.
The 29-year-old, a four-time Champions League winner during his time in the first-team, will likely line up alongside Eder Militao, flanked by Ferland Mendy and Dani Carvajal.
Real trail 4-3 on aggregate from the first leg but remain hopeful of overturning that deficit on their home pitch and reaching a 17th European Cup/Champions League final to extend their own record.
Los Blancos last reached the final in 2018 when they beat Liverpool to claim a third successive European title and haven’t lost in the showcase game since 1981 – also against Liverpool – winning seven more since then.
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Source : 90min