Essien did not make the Real Madrid team for the game against Manchester City

By Ameenu Shardow

Ghana midfielder Michael Essien is injured and he is not available for Real Madrid on Wednesday when they take on Manchester City.

The Ghana international will be sitting out of Los Blancos’ second straight game due to an unspecified injury.

The 29-year-old has been enjoying regular action lately under Jose Mourinho but missed the weekend’s 5-1 thrashing of Athletic Bilbao due to the same injury he reportedly picked up in training.

Mourinho did not reveal the nature of the injury to the Ghana international, who joined Real from City’s Premier League rivals Chelsea in the close season.

“He has a physical problem and did not recover in time to travel,” Mourinho told a news conference at City’s Etihad stadium, without elaborating.

Essien has suffered a series of serious injuries in recent years which ultimately cost him his regular place at Chelsea – necessitating his move to the Spanish giants.

He appeared to be on his way to rediscovering his form that earned him the reputation as one of the finest midfielders in the world with his run of regular first team action in Madrid.

The fresh injury is thus a setback to his bid to reclaim his lost glory.

The ex-Lyon player played his first game for the Spanish champions in the Champions League reverse win against City on Match Day One at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The nine-time European champions currently lie second behind Borussia Dortmund with one more game to go by the time they play the English champions.