Haaland misses training to cast doubt over Manchester City's Champions League clash with AEK Athens

Erling Haaland is set to miss Manchester City’s Champions League home fixture against AEK Athens after the Norwegian striker failed to train on Monday, two days after hobbling off at full-time in Saturday’s Premier League win over Ipswich Town at the Etihad Stadium. The absence raises further questions about his availability for the Premier League trip to Aston Villa the following Saturday.

Manager Enzo Maresca offered cautious optimism when speaking to the media, saying Haaland “can be available” and noting the forward had looked “quite good” in the previous day’s session. “We have some doubts after Saturday’s game,” Maresca added. “The rest are more or less okay.”

Haaland was not the only absentee from Monday’s session. Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly all missed training after being substituted with knocks against Ipswich, while Antoine Semenyo will be sidelined for approximately eight weeks with a knee injury.

Maresca revealed that initial fears over Semenyo’s knee were worse than the scan ultimately showed. “In the first moment we expect an even worse injury so we were more worried, but after the scan we are less worried,” he said. “It could be eight weeks. When he is back, around December, we have a new player. It’s not muscular.”

With several senior players unavailable, youngsters Floyd Samba and Ryan McAidoo joined the training session ahead of the AEK Athens fixture, underlining the depth challenges currently facing City.