Shaw out of today’s Champions League with injury

MANCHESTER, England (AP):

MANCHESTER CITY star Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw could miss both legs against Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League quarterfinals because of a muscle injury.

Shaw was ruled out of today’s first leg by City manager Nick Cushing, who also said the Jamaica striker is a doubt for the return match in London next week.

Shaw, the top scorer in the Women’s Super League and one of the world’s best strikers, was injured in City’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea in the Women’s League Cup final on Saturday.

Japan international Aoba Fujino was also hurt in the final and will miss the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals at least.

“Two significant players missing,” Cushing said in a news conference yesterday. “But for us, these moments give opportunities to other players.

“Both of them are muscle injuries ... the problem with these types of injuries, it’s going to take a few days to even diagnose how long the problem is. I think they are significant.”

Pushed on the chances of Shaw and Fujino being available for the second leg on March 27, Cushing said: “When you have muscle injuries and you can’t diagnose the timeframe, it’s not going to be one you can turn around quickly.”

The League Cup final was the first of four games between Chelsea and City in a 12-day span. As well as the two-leg Champions League quarterfinals, they meet in a Women’s Super League match on Sunday.

Neither Chelsea nor City has won the Women’s Champions League.

On Saturday, Shaw’s assist was not enough to prevent City from losing to Chelsea in an exciting contest at Derby County’s Pride Park.

It took Chelsea just eight minutes to break the deadlock when Mayra Ramirez netted an early opener, bundling in a rebound that bounced off City skipper Laia Aleixandri.

Shaw then set up Aoba Fujino in the second half to bring the match back on level terms, with Fujino producing a powerful strike that flew past Chelsea’s goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and into the roof of the net in the 64th minute to make it 1-1.

However, an own goal by Yui Hasegawa in the 77th restored Chelsea’s lead, ending their three-year losing streak in League Cup finals.

The result was Chelsea’s first trophy under head coach Sonia Bompastor and kept their bid for a historic quadruple alive.