Pep Guardiola is unsure if Erling Haaland will be available for Manchester City's huge Premier League showdown with title rivals Arsenal.
Norway international Haaland was substituted at half-time of City's 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday with what Guardiola described after the game as "a big knock".
The 22-year-old is therefore considered a doubt for Wednesday's trip to leaders Arsenal, despite taking part in Monday's recovery training session with the rest of his team-mates.
Providing an update at a press conference on the eve of the match at Emirates Stadium between first and second, Guardiola gave little away on Haaland's fitness.
"We train this afternoon. Right now, I don't know. Yesterday was a recovery day after playing Aston Villa. That's all."
Haaland has found the net 31 times in 29 appearances since joining City from Borussia Dortmund – six goals more than any other player across Europe's top five leagues.
That tally includes 25 goals in 21 Premier League outings, though he has scored in only two of City's six games in the competition this calendar year, albeit netting four times.
City will give Haaland every chance of being available for the huge contest as the reigning champions look to close the three-point gap on Arsenal, who have a game in hand.
Guardiola's side have won three of their past four league games, whereas Arsenal have just two victories in their past five outings.
The two sides face off again in April and Guardiola insists nothing will be decided on Wednesday in terms of where the title ends up.
"So far, they are the best team in the league," Guardiola said. "We felt it a couple of weeks ago when we played them [in the FA Cup]. The commitment, they are sharp.
"It will be a big, big battle. In all departments, you have to be ready.
"Every game is different. You can play good and win and everything is perfect but tomorrow you could lose. There are many games to play.
"Tomorrow is an important one, everyone knows it, and we'll try to do our best. It's important because we can take the points, and stop the best team [in the league] from doing so.
"But I have a feeling many things can happen. Tomorrow can help us be there, but there are many games, tough games. We cannot deny it's important to prove ourselves."
Mikel Arteta enjoyed a successful period working alongside Guardiola, but City are the only side he has failed to beat in the league as Arsenal manager, losing all five games.
Regardless of Arsenal's poor record in this fixture, Guardiola believes Arteta's experience of winning the Premier League could be a factor come the end of the campaign.
"I would say if there are three or four games left and the difference is one point, maybe it could be important," he said.
"There are a lot of points to play for. This is an important match, but there are many more to come."
City have won each of their past 22 Premier League games on a Wednesday, with that the longest winning run on a specific day of the week in the competition's history.
Kompany wary of PSG quality despite European struggles
Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany is ignoring Paris Saint-Germain's poor start in the Champions League and expects a fierce test when the Parisiens visit Bavaria on Tuesday.
Six-time European champions Bayern are a lowly 17th in the 36-team Champions League table, currently occupying a playoff spot with just six points from four games.
PSG, meanwhile, are in danger of missing out on qualification entirely, sitting 25th with four points after being dealt a difficult draw.
Ahead of this week's fifth round of matches, the Opta supercomputer gave Bayern a 75% chance of reaching the last 16, either via automatic qualification or the playoffs.
PSG, meanwhile, are assigned just a 45% chance of making the round of 16.
However, Kompany will not take anything for granted ahead of the visit of Luis Enrique's men, saying: "We are playing against one of the big clubs in Europe.
They have a lot of individual quality and a very good coach. Both teams will want to win. We are playing at home and this match is of utmost importance to us.
"It's a squad with incredible talent. The spaces between the lines are never big, the pressing is very aggressive and good.
"When they have the ball, they have a clear attacking approach. As a team, they are really very good."
While the German giants have lost two of their four Champions League matches this season, they are undefeated in the Bundesliga and have not conceded a goal in five consecutive league games, but Kompany is still striving for more.
"There are many teams in the competition that we haven't seen yet. We often talk about finishing in the top eight... our goal is to finish top one," the Belgian added.
Bayern are without 20-year-old defensive midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic, who broke his collarbone in October.
"Aleks is not yet fully integrated into training. It is going well and quickly, but it will still take a little while," Kompany said.
One man who is raring to go is Harry Kane, who has scored 50 Bundesliga goals since joining from Tottenham in August last year, needing just 43 games to reach that mark – fewer than any player in the league's history.
"It has been a long time since I felt as good as I do now," the England captain said. "As an experienced player, you learn a lot about different phases in a game.
"Since I've been at Bayern, my numbers have gone up. I hope that this continues and that we can keep raising our standards.
"Without the players around me, all of the goals I score would not be possible. They create space.
"We have a lot of competition for different positions, a lot of quality and a high tempo. Sometimes I also drop deeper to give my team-mates more space. We get on very well."
Leipzig in false Champions League position, says Inter's Inzaghi
RB Leipzig's lowly position in the Champions League standings does not reflect their performances, said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi ahead of their clash at San Siro on Tuesday.
Inter sit fifth in the 36-team group phase, having collected an impressive 10 points through four games, winning three in a row after starting with a draw at Manchester City.
Leipzig, meanwhile, are one of five teams still without a point.
If they lose on Tuesday, they will equal their longest-ever losing run in the competition, having lost five straight between February and October 2021 – two under Julian Nagelsmann and three under Jesse Marsch.
"Leipzig are a team that has been in the Champions League for six years and until Saturday they had the best defence in the Bundesliga," Inzaghi told a press conference on Monday.
"In the four Champions League matches they have played they deserved more, they have only clearly lost against Celtic.
"They have a coach [Marco Rose] who has been there for many years, they have many quality players and the ranking does not reflect their performances in Europe. We know that we are facing a strong team".
Leipzig, who are third in the Bundesliga after losing 4-3 at Hoffenheim on Saturday, kicked off their European campaign with a 2-1 loss at Atletico Madrid and home defeats by Juventus (3-2) and Liverpool (1-0). They lost 3-1 at Celtic last time out.
Inter, meanwhile, are unbeaten in 11 home matches in the competition (nine wins, two draws), keeping nine clean sheets during that run. Inzaghi, however, says they have further gears to find.
"We always have to work harder, this positive moment is the best to push and improve even more," Inzaghi said, reflecting on Saturday's 5-0 win at Verona in Serie A.
"We always try to see where we can do better. On Saturday in Verona, we scored five goals in one half, but we saw where we made some mistakes that could have cost us dearly.
"Last year it was one thing, this year it's different. Both in the league and in the Champions League there are many pitfalls."
Inter, who won the Scudetto last season and were Champions League runners-up in 2023, are third in Serie A, one point behind Napoli and level with second-placed Atalanta.
Midfielder Davide Frattesi is likely to miss the Leipzig game but Inzaghi will hope to have midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu and forward Lautaro Martinez available.
"Frattesi has been having a little problem with his ankle for 10 days. It will have to be evaluated. Yesterday it gave him some problems and today he didn't feel at his best," Inzaghi said.
"Calhanoglu and Lautaro were absent in Verona but had two good training sessions yesterday and today. Tomorrow morning, I will evaluate the lineup."
Calhanoglu was substituted at half-time in Turkiye's match against Wales on November 16 with a muscle issue, while Martinez, who scored in Argentina's World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru, fell sick as he returned from international duty.
Alonso's injury concerns growing amid Leverkusen fixture congestion
Xabi Alonso stressed that he needs all of his players to compete in Bayer Leverkusen's packed schedule, with Salzburg next up in the Champions League.
French striker Martin Terrier joined Leverkusen's long injury list when he fractured his right forearm during their 5-2 comeback win over Heidenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday, while Jeremie Frimpong also had to go off before half-time.
Jonas Hofmann was ruled out for the rest of the year due to a thigh injury before that game on Saturday, joining Victor Boniface, Amine Adli, Nordi Mukiele and Jeanuel Belocian on the sidelines.
"We need the whole squad but with six injured players, everyone is even more important," Alonso told reporters.
"It's intense to play every three days. A special situation in which we need every single player."
Along with injury concerns, Leverkusen have struggled with form in the past weeks as they drew 1-1 with Brest and then lost 4-0 to Liverpool in Europe's top competition.
Since the start of last season, no team has won more games in major European competition than Leverkusen (11, excluding qualifiers), while only Liverpool (39) and Manchester City (38) have scored more than Alonso's side (37) in this period.
However, since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, Leverkusen have won six of their seven home matches in major European competition (D1), and beat Milan in their only match on home soil in the Champions League this term (1-0).
Leverkusen, winners of the domestic double last season, are 13th in the Champions League standings and will face Salzburg, who are 30th, but Alonso said Pepijn Lijnders' side cannot be taken lightly.
"We know how important the upcoming home games against Salzburg and Inter are. We expect a good opponent tomorrow," he added.
"Salzburg plays with a lot of intensity and dynamism. We want to get these important points in the BayArena. We need the energy from the fans. In difficult moments, they can influence and push us."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
