Nicolas Otamendi is ready to hand Manchester City a defensive derby boost after more injury woe for the Etihad outfit.
The Argentine followed captain and fellow centre-back Vincent Kompany off the field early in Tuesday’s goalless draw with Dynamo Kiev that saw City book a place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate win.
Kompany is expected to be sidelined for at least a month with a recurrence of his calf problem, meaning he will miss Sunday’s crucial clash with Manchester United and City’s Champions League last-eight test next month.
But, while he will be assessed further on Thursday, Otamendi is confident he will be fit to face sixth-placed United as the neighbours battle it out for a top-four spot.
“It’s very similar to a dead-leg injury I have had before,” he said. “The blow wasn’t that serious but it was better not to continue and come off.
“The test, I hope it shows nothing and am hopeful I can be there on Sunday. It’s a derby, we want to win.”
With Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demichelis, both unconvincing this season, as the other options, boss Manuel Pellegrini will be desperate to have Otamendi available.
And full-back Pablo Zabaleta believes City have to show the strength of their squad as he backed Kompany to bounce back after a fourth calf injury of the campaign and 14th since he joined in 2008.
“It is a shame, it has been a very disappointing season for Vinnie, but always we know Vinnie will come back stronger than ever,” he said. “I know those situations. Sometimes they get people down, but not Vinnie. I know the medical staff will assess how bad this injury is and hopefully it won’t be too bad and he can recover as soon as possible.
Manuel Pellegrini says Vincent Kompany's latest calf injury will keep him out for a "minimum of one month". pic.twitter.com/dsqmcIc7ll
— Messi Minutes (@MessiMinutes) March 16, 2016
“The same thing for Nico Otamendi. They have been playing together recently and doing really well for the team. They are two big players for this team, but we have other players, Mangala and Demichelis and they have played before for this team and it is a moment to talk about the strength of the squad in those situations when you lose players like this.”
Kompany’s latest setback will also have incoming boss Pep Guardiola concerned as he plans for next season.
With Demichelis out of contract and Mangala inconsistent, City are likely to target two new centre-backs in the summer with Everton’s John Stones, Aymeric Laporte at Athletic Bilbao and Juventus’s Leonardo Bonucci among the main targets.
Striker Sergio Aguero is looking forward to working with Guardiola, although he denied having a chat with pal Lionel Messi about his former Barcelona boss.
“No, no,” he said. “We only chatted beforehand, before it was announced. Obviously for Leo he was a great coach, he won a lot of trophies and we hope he does well [here]. I don’t know him [Guardiola], but let’s finish the season first in the best way possible.”
And, for Aguero, that means driving City on to glory in the Champions League, and ensuring City overcome United and help ensure a top-four spot if they do not haul back Leicester in the title race.
“Yes, for me all the games are big ones,” he added. “We are happy now [after the Kiev win], but tomorrow we will be thinking about United.
“We have to win, even more so because the title is slipping further and further away, and we have to make sure we take fourth place. We want the title, but we have to take into account that United are right behind us and it will be a tough game, we will have to play intensely.
“I think that over the last five years City have always competed hard in the derby, but at one point United were huge and City have invested a lot of money to bring in quality players, and that has levelled the playing field.
“You always want to go far [in the Champions League], and to do that you have to face the best. Obviously Barca and Bayern are there, who are the two best by form, and obviously if we can avoid them all the better, but at some point we will have to face them.”
Aguero also has the Copa America to come this summer with Argentina, but he added: “Right now I am thinking about winning the Champions League with Manchester City, but we will see what happens in the future.”
