Man City handed Erling Haaland injury boost as Real Madrid suffer Kylian Mbappe blow | OneFootball

Good news, and bad, ahead of the Champions League last-16 first-leg clash

Erling Haaland trained with his Manchester City team-mates on Tuesday morning ahead of facing Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola confirmed ahead of the 3-1 victory that Haaland was being rested ahead of a season-defining run of fixtures, including the Champions League double-header against the Spanish giants, and the Carabao Cup final later in March.

It was the second game in three which Haaland had missed, after sitting out the win over Leeds with a knock before returning for the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.

But Haaland is expected to start against Real Madrid on Wednesday evening, and was going through the usual training drills under the watchful eye of Pep Guardiola on Tuesday morning. It leaves only Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic absent for the last-16 first-leg clash.

It was less positive news for Madrid, though, with seven first-team stars missing, including Kylian Mbappe.

After missing the training session on Monday, the French star was again a no-show with the main group on Tuesday due to an ongoing knee injury.

He will play no part against City this week, but there are hopes he could face City in the second leg next Tuesday.

“Mbappe is much better, but we have to take it one day at a time,” head coach Alvaro Arbeloa told reporters. “He’s come back feeling great. And we’ll take it one step at a time."

Also absent for Madrid were Jude Bellingham, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since last month, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Dani Ceballos, Rodrygo and Alvaro Carreras.