Manuel Pellegrini confirmed Manchester City will be without Yaya Toure for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.<\/p>\n

Toure sustained a thigh injury during the closing stages of Saturday’s 4-0 Premier League win over Stoke City and the midfielder was absent from Monday’s open training session at the City Football Academy.<\/p>\n

Speaking at his pre-match news conference, Pellegrini conceded Tuesday’s clash with Zinedine Zidane’s men was likely to come too soon for the 32- year-old Ivory Coast international, who may also miss next week’s return at the Santiago Bernabeu.<\/p>\n

“Yaya I think is going to be out. He\u2019s not recovered from the muscle injury,” Pellegrini said.<\/p>\n

“We’ll see during the week in the way he improves. I don’t think he will be fit for Sunday [to face Southampton in the Premier League].<\/p>\n

“We will see for the second leg but it depends on the way he improves this week.”<\/p>\n

Toure’s absence means Fernadinho and Fernando are likely to reprise the midfield partnership that worked effectively in City’s quarter-final triumph over Paris Saint-Germain and Pellegrini has full confidence in the Brazilian duo.<\/p>\n

“Whenever Fernandinho and Fernando have played together they have played well, including some key games in Europe against PSG and Roma,” Pellegrini added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I am very confident in what they can provide for us.”<\/p>\n

Real Madrid have fitness worries of their own regarding forward stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema but Pellegrini’s concerns lie with his own team – who he urged to remain calm under the pressure of a historic occasion for the club.<\/p>\n

City are in their first Champions League semi-final and Pellegrini believes a lack of discipline has hindered them in previous tilts for European glory.<\/p>\n

Martin Demichelis and Pablo Zabaleta were sent off in the respective home and away legs when Barcelona dismissed the Premier League side in the last-16 in 2013-14.<\/p>\n

Fellow defender Gael Clichy endured the same fate 12 months later at the Etihad Stadium as Barca again got rid of City in the first knockout.<\/p>\n

“For me the most important lesson came in the round of 16 against Barcelona when we played with one player less,” Pellegrini said.<\/p>\n

“It is very important to have a hot heart but a cold mind. At this stage it can be a big disadvantage to play with one player less and it is a penalty that can decide the score.<\/p>\n

“That’s the lesson that we must learn because it was very difficult to manage this team in the last two Champions Leagues – first against Barcelona, which is difficult, then after that, when you play with one player less.<\/p>\n

“The most important thing is not to be emotional, or be emotional under control.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manuel Pellegrini confirmed Manchester City will be without Yaya Toure for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. Toure sustained a thigh injury during the closing stages of Saturday’s 4-0 Premier League win over Stoke City and the midfielder was absent from Monday’s open training session at the City Football Academy. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[114,6,11,116,2,64,63],"tags":[53,26,24,52],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n