Manchester Town manager Pep Guardiola says he has never been “so angry” as when defender John Stones was injured in a friendly with England before the club’s Champions League quarter-final match against Real Madrid at end of the season.
Stones, 30, was forced to suffer an adductor muscle illness just 10 minutes into England’s 2-2 draw against Belgium in March.
The surprise came just four days after the centre-half had played the full 90 minutes in a comfortable defeat to Brazil, and the Stones were supposed to be better prepared to start one of the two matches against Madrid.
City captain Kyle Walker will miss Wednesday’s Champions League match against Sparta Prague after returning from the new England camp with a knee injury, prompting Guardiola to express his frustration at the condition of the Stones.
Guardiola mentioned: “I was never so angry as at that moment. I was never so disappointed before.
“It was a fun sport and we were playing in the quarterfinals against Real Madrid and in the Premier League to try to win it.
“It was a friendly match [with England]So the fact that the players came back injured… I didn’t like it at all.”
Stones started the first leg and instead came on a moment later in the second as the tie ended 4-4 on aggregate, with defending champions Town eliminated on penalties.
England manager Gareth Southgate defended his decision to play the Stones in back-to-back games, saying “it’s not about overload.”, abroad because the defender had not played for two weeks.
