Aymeric Laporte has dealt Manchester City a blow after being sidelined with a hamstring problem.
The French defender is expected to be out for several weeks after breaking down in the first half of City's stunning 2-1 win at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
It means the centre back will miss Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Aston Villa at Wembley as well as the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on March 8.
Laporte, 25, is also struggling to make the return leg of City's last 16 tie against Real in Manchester as Pep Guardiola 's men bid to reach the quarter finals.
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Laporte only returned from a five month lay off in January after damaging his knee ligaments and his absence will be a huge setback for Guardiola.
With John Stones struggling to find his best form, it means Guardiola is expected to ask Fernandinho to revert to central defence once again as City look to keep alive their hopes of winning another treble haul of trophies.
Laporte took to Twitter soon after pulling up to praise his teammates for securing a first leg win in Madrid.
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“Sad to leave the team a bit early,” he wrote.
“But most important is the result tonight!!
“Proud of the boys #CitySpirit.”
Speaking after the win at Real Madrid, Guardiola insisted that Laporte’s injury was not that much of a surprise: “He’s injured.
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“He’s had four or five months [out], and it’s a problem when you come back.
“He came back in this demanding game, it’s a pity. We dreamed to be with him until the end.
“Unfortunately, we’ve suffered a lot in this department.
“But, with John [Stones], with Nico [Otamendi] and Dinho [Fernandinho] we’ll go through.”
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