Friday 6 May 2016 00:14, UK
"He's going to be very important for us," insisted Manuel Pellegrini when asked about Yaya Toure before Manchester City's Champions League semi-final second leg with Real Madrid.
However, on the night, the Ivorian was withdrawn with half an hour to play after a lacklustre performance and with City trailing to Fernando's own goal, which would ultimately see them knocked out.
Toure had missed City's previous two games with a thigh injury, but Pellegrini started with the 32-year-old after telling the press the player had trained all week without any problems.
Whether Toure's injury impacted on his performance or not, his running stats do not make for good reading.
He covered 7.05km during his 61 minutes on the field according to UEFA. That works out as 115.6 metres per minute - the lowest rate of any City midfielder.
In contrast, fellow midfielders Kevin de Bruyne (125m per minute), Fernando (118m per minute) and Fernandinho (116m per minute) all ran further on average - despite all playing the full 90 minutes.
Jesus Navas, who was withdrawn after 69 minutes, and oncoming sub Raheem Sterling, also topped Toure's efforts.
It wasn't just Toure's running statistics which failed to flatter him, though.
The City man didn't make a single tackle and failed to recover the ball once for his team - a worrying output, given the amount of time his side spent on the back foot at the Bernabeu.
In contrast, fellow central midfielders Fernandinho and Fernando made three and four tackles, respectively, and recovered the ball nine times between them.
On the ball, Toure's numbers were also below his colleagues. He had no attempts on goal, while Fernandinho and Fernando had better pass completion rates.
With Toure's future in doubt given Pep Guardiola's summer arrival - the Spaniard sold Toure to City when he was in charge of Barcelona - the Ivorian may well have played his final Champions League game for the club.
He'll hope to sign off with a more significant contribution in City's remaining Premier League games, starting with a key fixture in their battle for a top-four finish against third-placed Arsenal on Super Sunday.
