Pep Guardiola is still "so angry" with Kyle Walker over the full-back's three-match Champions League suspension.
Walker was sent off for lashing out at Andre Silva in the 82nd minute of City's 2-1 defeat to RB Leipzig in the group stage, with the Premier League champions having already secured qualification into the last 16.
City appealed against the England international's suspension, but it was upheld, with Walker missing the last-16 tie against Sporting CP and the first leg of the quarter-finals, with Guardiola's side surely heading for the last eight after winning the first leg 5-0.
The Premier League leaders are short of options in defence for the second leg at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. Ruben Dias is set to miss the next month due to a hamstring problem while Nathan Ake is not yet ready to return from injury, and Joao Cancelo is unwell.
John Stones and Aymeric Laporte are Guardiola's senior options at centre-back, while Oleksandr Zinchenko would seem the most viable option at left-back.
Guardiola said he does not know who will fill in at right-back, as he vented his frustration at Walker.
"He deserved it. Kyle Walker deserved the three," Guardiola said during a news conference when asked about City's failure to win their appeal.
"When one player does this stupid thing he deserves the three games, I'm sorry. I'm not so kind to Kyle in this kind of action.
"I'm still so angry with him, so angry. He knows it. It's not necessary to discuss that [with him].
"He's so important, Kyle for us. Did you see the game he played against United? But in Leipzig, we've qualified already, 75, 80 minutes to make this kind of action? So he deserves the three games.
"The club appealed, I did not agree. They had to do it because in other cases that were quite similar it was just two games but he deserved it. Hopefully he learns for the future."
One academy option who could be called upon is Luke Mbete, with the 18-year-old defender set to be included in City's squad.
"He's trained with us for a long time, the application is so high, a guy who wants to learn," Guardiola said.
"Still young but tomorrow he'll be with the squad and maybe we will need him, we will see."
Fernandinho, however, was namechecked as a possible option to slot into the defence, either at right-back or centre-back.
There has been talk of Fernandinho moving into a coaching role, yet Guardiola still wants to keep the Brazilian in his squad if possible.
"I would love [to offer him a new contract]," Guardiola said.
"I'm so glad to have him he's an incredible captain and player. I have a feeling now at 36, 37, he struggled a little bit coming back from holidays but now he's getting his rhythm.
"For him he doesn't care, he will play against Peterborough. Other players his age wouldn't want to play there in cold weather, but he wants to help to give rest to Rodri. At the end of the season Txiki [Begiristain, City's director of football] and the club have to decide."
Kevin De Bruyne, meanwhile, is risking a suspension should he play and Guardiola may omit the midfielder.
"He's maybe not [going to start]," Guardiola said with a laugh. "We will see."
Ancelotti lauds 'unique' Endrick after Champions League debut
Carlo Ancelotti hailed Endrick's display in Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Stuttgart in the Champions League, saying he has unique gifts that set him apart.
Endrick emerged from the bench to notch Madrid's final goal of a nervy encounter, striking from distance and beating Alexander Nubel in the bottom corner.
The Brazilian's effort saw him become the youngest South American player to score on his Champions League debut, aged 18 years and 58 days.
Endrick is also the youngest to score on his Los Blancos debut in the competition, overtaking Javier Portillo in 2002 (19 years, 355 days).
"He is able to do things that no-one can think of," Ancelotti said.
"He has the gift that strikers dream of, the gift of being very effective, decisive.
"You can see that he has something special, something I have never seen. And he has such a strong and very fast shooting.
"Endrick had courage because it was the last ball of the game.
"The best solution was to take advantage of the three against one, with Vinicius and Rodrygo open in the wings, but he did it very well, even though it was perhaps the most complicated solution."
But the reigning champions did not have it all their own way at the Santiago Bernabeu, with their German opposition creating several opportunities on the night.
Stuttgart ended the match with 17 shots, seven of which were on target, while also producing an expected goals (xG) tally of 1.94 compared to Madrid's 2.61.
However, they were thwarted by the hands of Thibaut Courtois, with the Belgian making six saves throughout the contest.
Ancelotti was pleased with his side's start to the defence of their European crown, but said improvements were needed if they were to secure a 16th Champions League title.
"If anyone thinks that winning games is easy, they are wrong," Ancelotti said.
“I have coached more than 200 games in the Champions League and I can't remember a game without suffering.
"Nobody knows better than Real Madrid what it's like to win a Champions League with suffering.
"We are still trying to find our best version. It's a work in progress."
Inzaghi focused on revamped Champions League, not 2023 final 'rematch' with Man City
Simone Inzaghi is not treating Inter's Champions League opener at Manchester City on Wednesday as a rematch of last year's final.
The Scudetto winners were beaten 1-0 by Pep Guardiola's side in the 2023 final, as Rodri's finish in Istanbul proved the difference.
Inzaghi is adamant that changes to the Champions League format and the fact that there is much less riding on the result make it very different to their previous encounter.
"Tomorrow starts a new Champions League, that will be very different," the Inter head coach told a press conference on Tuesday.
"I re-watched [the final] a month ago when we were in training camp. I don't think it's a rematch because it's not a final, it's a group game in the new Champions League format."
Inzaghi was enthusiastic about the changes to the format, with clubs playing eight matches in a 36-team league phase instead of the previous group stage.
But he said he was also aware of the burden on players from the amount of games they will now play after Man City midfielder Rodri said players were on the verge of going on strike.
"We know that you play a lot and we coaches are aware of that. I can say that preparing these games for a coach is beautiful and exciting," Inzaghi added.
"I know there are problems, but we are counting on getting through. I will have to alternate as many players as possible, we are without [Federico] Dimarco and [Marko] Arnautovic, but we have been used to having a sometimes limited rotation for two years now."
Inzaghi added that he was pushing his team to be aggressive and determined despite City having not lost at home in the competition since 2018.
"We will need a lot of components to make a great match," he concluded.
Sporting CP 2-0 Lille: England's Gomes sees red as hosts dominate
Viktor Gyokeres and Zeno Debast fired Sporting CP to a 2-0 Champions League win over Lille on Tuesday, after Angel Gomes' sending-off reduced the French side to 10 men.
Sporting created a number of good chances in the first half but were kept at bay by Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, until Gyokeres latched onto a delightful pass from Pedro Goncalves to open the scoring in the 38th minute.
Two minutes later, Lille were reduced to 10 men when England international Gomes was shown a second yellow card for tripping Gyokeres, having earlier been booked for a push on Francisco Trincao.
In the second half, Debast unleashed a superb long-range effort into the top-right corner to seal victory for the home side.
The Portuguese club are sixth in the early Champions League standings and face PSV in their next European game on October 1.
Data Debrief: Gomes joins unwanted club
Gomes made a fine impact after being called up by interim England coach Lee Carsley for Nations League wins over the Republic of Ireland and Finland earlier this month.
However, he was brought back down to earth as his red card proved costly on Tuesday, becoming just the fourth Englishman to be sent off while representing a non-English club in the Champions League.
Mark Hateley for Rangers, Paul Gascoigne twice for the same club, Matt Derbyshire for Olympiakos and Fikayo Tomori for Milan are the others to do so.
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