- Jack Grealish was substituted after suffering an injury on Tuesday night.
- The Manchester City star looked devastated as he walked off the pitch.
- Declan Rice showed his class after scoring against West Ham, those fans who booed him are DUMB – Listen to the everything is beginning podcast
Jack Grealish was left devastated after being substituted with an injury during the 21st minute of Manchester City’s Champions League clash against FC Copenhagen.
Grealish appeared to recover from an injury during the first half, after challenging Copenhagen’s Diogo Goncalves for the ball.
He immediately appeared somewhat uncomfortable as he fell to the ground, wincing in pain as he looked towards the bench, but no contact was made between the players, raising concerns that it could be a muscle injury.
It will be a huge disappointment for the 28-year-old, who has not started a game for Manchester City since their 5-0 win against Huddersfield in January. The England striker was seen holding his head in dismay after walking off the pitch grimacing.
Grealish spoke to the team doctors upon leaving the field, before speaking with Pep Guardiola. He seemed insistent on returning and re-entered the field for a few moments before he was eventually replaced by Jeremy Doku.
At first it looked like Grealish might have suffered a muscle injury and Ally McCoist on TNT Sport’s match commentary feared he had “pulled his calf or hamstring”.
Did you catch your right leg there? “He sounds crazy, but I hope he does it because if he hasn’t, he probably hurt his calf or hamstring or something,” McCoist said.
After Grealish was replaced by Doku, McCoist added: “I was disappointed. I really wanted to see Jack on the left side. All that can be said is that hopefully they will have recovered from that injury before it becomes something serious.
“The worrying thing is that it didn’t seem like there had been a tackle or a kick from Gonçalves. To me it seemed more like a muscle strain. But if they get it early, it will be the best.”
Concerns were also raised shortly after about the fitness of Phil Foden, who also appeared to suffer an injury just 10 minutes later.
He left the field to receive treatment, but returned to the field shortly after.
Speaking about the injury at half-time, Rio Ferdinand told TNT Sports: “When it’s bitingly cold like this (conditions), you always worry about little problems like that.
‘Small muscle injuries and tears. Unfortunately for him, he’s been on the sidelines for a while and you’d like to see him come back and play a series of games. But unfortunately he won’t be able to do it now.
Joleon Lescott added: “It looks like a groin injury. I think it’s signaling to the bench that it’s feeling something and I’ve been in that position before and you feel like you’re going to be fine and you try to carry on and it’s not right.
“And you can see his face: he’s devastated.”
It was a nightmare situation for Grealish, who has returned three goals in 25 appearances for Manchester City this season.
Kevin De Bruyne had put the visitors 1-0 up after 10 minutes with an excellent shot across the goal.
The hosts reduced the deficit thanks to Magnus Mattsson, before Bernardo Silva put City back in the lead just before the break.