Ganesh Kendale
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he has never been “so angry” as when defender John Stones was injured in an England friendly before the club’s Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid last season.
Stones, 30, was forced off with an abductor muscle problem after just 10 minutes of England’s 2-2 draw against Belgium in March.
The injury came just four days after the centre-half had played the full 90 minutes in a friendly defeat by Brazil, and meant Stones was only able to start one of the two legs against Madrid.
City captain Kyle Walker will miss Wednesday’s Champions League game against Sparta Prague having returned from England’s recent camp with a knee injury – which led Guardiola to outline his frustration at the Stones situation.
Guardiola said: “I was never so angry than in that moment. Never before was I so disappointed.
“It was a friendly game and we were playing quarter-finals against Real Madrid and in the Premier League to try to win it.
“It was a friendly game [with England], so for players to come back injured… I didn’t like it at all.”
Stones started the first leg and came on as a substitute a week later for the second as the tied ended 4-4 on aggregate, with holders City eliminated in a penalty shootout.
England boss Gareth Southgate defended his decision to play Stones in two consecutive games, saying it was “not about overload”, external as the defender had not played in two weeks.
City and Spain midfielder Rodri said in September that footballers were close to going on strike because of fixture demand, with the 28-year-old rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament later that week.
Walker, 34, missed City’s last-gasp victory over Wolves on Sunday because of a knee injury sustained on England duty and remains unavailable.
“Before when I was a player, the national team manager called the clubs, now nobody talks,” Guardiola added.
“Maybe the physios talk but the managers never. In the first or second season with Gareth [Southgate] yes, but now no.
“I know the players don’t want to get injured, I always encourage them to go to the national team, it’s a pleasure, but if it’s a friendly game you cannot come back injured, I’m sorry.
“We are well-paid here, the club pays us, not the national teams. Sometimes you have to respect the clubs. In friendly games you cannot be injured. You can play, absolutely, but you cannot come back injured.”
