Erling Haaland hands Manchester City major update on knee injury scare ahead of Real Madrid clash

Manchester City have received a significant update on the fitness of Erling Haaland ahead of their mammoth European clash with Real Madrid this week.

The Norwegian striker limped off the pitch at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon with a suspected knee injury leaving Manchester City fearing for the very worst in an injury-hit season that has impacted their ability to challenge for the highest honours.

Having successfully flicked on a header at the near-post from an Ilkay Gundogan corner, James McAtee converted with a close-range finish, although replays showed Haaland having landed awkwardly on his knee before dropping to the floor almost immediately after the restart.

But despite the initial concern after the striker was replaced during the final moments of the game, the Manchester City star was spotted back on the pitch at the full-time whistle walking freely and greeting his fellow teammates, opponents, and match officials.

Now, despite the scare during the closing stages of Saturday afternoon’s victory over Newcastle in the Premier League, Erling Haaland appears to have trained as normal with his teammates on Sunday in a significant boost to the first-team options.

In the same session, Manchester City’s vice-captain Ruben Dias is also understood to have trained as normal despite indicating to manager Pep Guardiola that he would only be limited to 20 minutes of action against Newcastle with a fitness concern at the weekend.

Nathan Ake’s fitness remains unknown at this stage having sustained some problems against Real Madrid and a bout of illness, according to Guardiola during his post-match media duties after the win over Newcastle.

The Manchester City manager is due to face the media from the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night after the club touchdown in the Spanish capital ahead of Wednesday evening’s last-16 play-off second-leg.

There may be a clearer picture as to who is fit, available, and ready for selection when the team conduct their 15 minutes of open training in front of global media on Tuesday morning too, with full coverage available on City Xtra’s social media channels.