English football club Manchester City qualified for their maiden Champions League quarter-finals beating Ukraine’s Dynamo Kiev 3-1 on aggregate after playing out a 0-0 draw in the second leg Round of 16 match.
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Those injuries mean both defenders are now doubts for Sunday’s Manchester derby against fierce rivals United, putting pressure on Pellegrini to get the result needed to keep City in the top four.
The oft-injured Kompany limped off with what appeared to be a recurrence of the calf injury that has limited him to 13 games during the Premier League campaign.
“We will know maybe tomorrow or the day after how important it is, but always a muscle injury is a minimum of one month”.
“I think he must be very strong with his mentality”.
In 2011 to 2012 season, The Belgian was awarded the captaincy of Manchester City, leading his squad to win the prestigious Premier League, the club’s first league title in 44 years.
Manuel Pellegrini is backing his Manchester City team to make a mark on the Champions League’s closing stages after they overcame Dynamo Kiev to reach the last eight. So we must see tomorrow with the examinations.
“We are very happy for the achievement because it’s important for this club to improve every season”, he added.
Replacements Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demichelis were rarely troubled until a belated Kiev rally and City kept only their second Champions League clean sheet in 18 attempts on home turf.
In a further defensive blow for City, Nicolas Otamendi – Kompany’s fellow center back – came off in the 23rd with an apparent knee injury.
Pellegrini hopes that Otamendi will shake off the effects of a hard knock within a few days.
“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”.
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However, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are yet to progress to the quarter-finals, with the Catalan giants being 2-0 up against Arsenal in the first leg, while the German champions were held to a 2-2 draw by Juventus in Turin.
