Haaland doubtful and Semenyo out eight weeks as Man City host AEK Athens

Manchester City host AEK Athens at the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League league phase carrying significant injury concerns from Saturday’s 3-2 Premier League win over Ipswich Town, with five players picking up problems during that match.

Erling Haaland hobbled off late in the Ipswich game with a foot injury and his availability remains uncertain. Head coach Enzo Maresca said the Norwegian “can be available” and described him as “quite good” in the session after the match, though Haaland did not take part in the open section of Monday’s training. Maresca offered no firm return date.

The most serious blow is the absence of Antoine Semenyo, who Maresca confirmed will miss approximately eight weeks. “The only one that will be out for probably eight weeks is Antoine,” the City manager said. “In the first moment we expected an even worse injury so we were more worried, but after the scan we are less worried. It could be eight weeks. When he is back, around December, we have a new player. It’s not muscular.”

Midfielder Matheus Nunes was forced off in the second half against Ipswich after appearing to hold his groin. Maresca said the rest of the injured group were “more or less, okay”, though Nunes was not spotted training with his teammates on Monday.

Nico O’Reilly is also a concern after aggravating a back problem that has troubled him this season. The full-back did not feature in training at the Etihad Campus, and his return date remains unclear.

Mateo Kovacic completed the first half against Ipswich before Maresca substituted him as a precaution after the Croatian went to ground at the start of the second half. Kovacic did not complete Monday’s training session, though the nature of his issue has not been specified.

City go into the AEK Athens fixture having lost their opening Champions League game 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain, making a positive result at home important as they look to build momentum in the league phase.