A battered Manchester City prepares for the return match against Sporting Portugal in the Champions League. After the 0-5 victory in Portugal the Citizens Apparently not to worry about qualifying for the quarter-finals, but Pep Guardiola’s team is struggling with personnel problems. At the press conference prior to the return leg, Guardiola says he has only fourteen players at his disposal.
Manchester City already had to do without Nathan Ake, Rúben Días, Zack Steffen and Cole Palmer against Manchester United (4-1 win) on Sunday. The names of João Cancelo and Kyle Walker have now also been added to the list of absentees. “We have few players at our disposal, only fourteen. Kyle is suspended, João is ill. Aké is not there either. We only have three defenders at our disposal, so we have to look at the second team. We will go after the training determine what we should do,” says the Spaniard. “It’s going to be difficult for us, but we have to deal with it as best we can. I can’t ask my players to perform as well as they did against Manchester United, football doesn’t work that way.”
Guardiola does not rule out the possibility that eighteen-year-old Luke Mbete will get a starting place in the center of the defence. The Under-23 stopper played 90 minutes in the first team against Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Cup (6-1 win) in September 2021 and played four minutes in January 2022 as a substitute in the FA Cup game against Swindon Town (1 -4 win). He has never played in the Champions League before. “He has been training with us for a long time. He is still young, but he will be in the squad tomorrow and we may need him.”
Guardiola also reveals that Kevin De Bruyne ‘may not start’ against Sporting. The playmaker was called off early against Manchester United on Sunday due to minor calf complaints. In addition, De Bruyne is suspended for the next match in the event of a subsequent yellow card in the Champions League. “You do think about that a bit,” Guardiola said. Oleksandr Zinchenko is “ready to play”, although the trainer admits that the left back is having “not an easy period” because of the Russian invasion of his home country Ukraine.
It must be strange if Manchester City do not qualify for the next round, Guardiola also knows. He holds a small blow, but expresses his intention to also win the home match against Sporting. “In the first game we achieved a fantastic result. Football is unpredictable: red cards and the quality of the opponent can make the difference. We will meet a top team and we will prepare our best possible team to win the game.”