At 3:00 a.m. on April 27, the first leg of the Champions League semi-final will kick off, with Premier League champions Manchester City taking on the Galaxy Real Madrid at home. The game was not easy for City as they suffered severe attrition in the backline, especially at right-back, and Guardiola was no longer even available.
In Manchester City's right-back position, England international Kyle Walker is the absolute main candidate, his strong defensive interception and excellent ability to pursue are impressive, and in his absence, Canselo, who is already successful in the left-back position, will be pulled back to the right-back position. In addition, centre-back Stones has had several cameo appearances as centre-backs this season.
But now, Kyle Walker was injured in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Atletico, and the situation is still unknown, Stones also suffered a muscle injury in the 3-0 win over Brighton, in fact, in that game, the centre-back Acker also sprained his ankle, but fortunately recovered his speed and completed the substitute appearance in the last round of the 5-1 win over Watford. At the very least, this allowed City to avoid a crisis at centre-back. However, Cancelo also received a yellow card in the match against Atletico madrid for missing the first leg against Real Madrid, so that one suspension and two injuries were injured, and Guardiola was really stretched at right-back.
In the pre-match press conference, Guardiola admitted that there are still doubts about whether Walker and Stones can play. It is worth mentioning that before that, Guardiola had talked about the possibility of Jesus' cameo as a right-back in an interview with Manchester City's official website. When asked about this issue at the press conference, Guardiola denied it, saying that he only said he could play, not really let him play.
However, if Kelwalker and Stones cannot play, the possibility of Jesus playing right-back is not ruled out. Even if one of the two comes out with an injury, Jesus will have a heavy responsibility, because in the two-legged knockout match with Real Madrid two years ago, he once made the Galaxy suffer a big loss.
In the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2019/20, Manchester City met Real Madrid in a narrow road. In the first leg away from home, Guardiola pinned Aguero and Sterling on the bench to line up a 4-4-2 front-forward in front of Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne, while Brazilian striker Jesus was placed in the left forward position. The main reason why Guardiola did this at that time was to contain the offensive corridor of Real Madrid on the right side of Carvajal, Valverde and Vinicius. Jesus is fast and physically resistant, playing as a left-back defender who can form a good protection for left-back Benjamin Mendy behind him.
Jesus did a good job in that game, using his speed in the first half not only to contain Carvajal's attack, but also to repeatedly play back to help Mendy defend well. After Real Madrid scored first in the second half, Sterling came off the bench and Jesus returned to the centre and successfully received a pass from De Bruyne to equalize. However, this is not the end, the whole game went to the 86th minute, Jesus successfully snatched in front of the field, the result of real madrid captain Ramos pulled him down in a hurry, because he was the last person in the Real Madrid backline, Ramos also received a red card and was sent off, missing the second leg of the match with Manchester City.
In that game, Jesus scored 1 goal with 4 shots and 2 goals, 5 breakthroughs, 3 key passes, 2 steals, 2 interceptions and 4 blocks on the defensive end, and 2 successes in 3 attempts, which can be described as offensive and defensive. Returning home in the second leg, Jesus, who started the game, completed the passing success to help Manchester City win 2-1 again. Two games, 2 goals and 1 assist to create a red card, Jesus for a time became a nightmare for Real Madrid.
In terms of personal ability, Jesus is not the best, and his archery skills are much worse than those of his predecessor Aguero. However, the reason why he has been able to save the team at key moments is because of his super tactical execution and diligent attitude on the field, such a player, no coach will not like. So, in the early hours of tomorrow morning, if Jesus starts or even really plays right-back, please don't be surprised, because he really has this ability.