Pep Guardiola is unsure about whether to restore Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne to his Manchester City line-up at Crystal Palace on Saturday with Real Madrid looming next week. (More Football News)
The pair were unused substitutes in midweek as City stayed three points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool by brushing aside Aston Villa 4-1, with Phil Foden bagging a sensational hat-trick.
But as a visit to Palace at lunchtime on Saturday is followed by a mouthwatering trip to the Spanish capital to face Real on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, this season바카라s leading goal-scorer Haaland and key playmaker De Bruyne might be kept on ice once again this weekend.
바카라I don바카라t know yet,바카라 Guardiola said, when asked about the prospect of Haaland and De Bruyne returning to face Palace. 바카라Playing at 12:30pm and playing two days ago, I have to think. There are so many games.
바카라We play less than two and a half days after our last game. Some players recover quicker than others. A long week is completely different but a short week, you have to talk with doctors, physios and staff.
바카라We are used to playing every three days over many months and months. For many, many years it has happened that way.
바카라We play 12:30pm, it바카라s perfect. More time to recover for the next game in Madrid. We then play on Saturday against Chelsea in the FA Cup afterwards, it바카라s not fair but we are going to do it.
바카라We take one game at a time and don바카라t give up. We are not new to European competitions so the players know how to handle it, not all the time but most of the time.바카라
City, who could welcome back goalkeeper Ederson at Selhurst Park but are still without defenders Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake, have dropped just six points in an unbeaten 13-match league run.
But with both Liverpool and Arsenal ahead of them, Guardiola reiterated that all City can do to keep alive hopes of a fourth successive league crown is win all of their eight remaining fixtures.
바카라I hope so but it doesn바카라t solve the problem if we don바카라t do our job,바카라 Guardiola said after being asked about whether he expects their title rivals to drop points.
바카라If we were at the top of the league it would be in our hands, that바카라s not the case, so what we have to do is win our games. I hope it happens but we cannot control it.
바카라The quality of the opponent is why we have to keep going and at the end we will realise which team is there.바카라
Guardiola, who said he had 바카라no opinion바카라 on rumours of a luxury tax being imposed on Premier League clubs to help regulate on overspending, admitted he is wary of upcoming opponents Palace.
The Eagles have taken points in six of their last 12 meetings with City, winning in December 2018 and October 2021 along with four draws 바카라 most recently coming from 2-0 down in December with goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta and Michael Olise.
바카라They바카라ve always been tough,바카라 he added. 바카라I think (manager Oliver) Glasner is doing a really good job.
바카라The quality is there with (Eberechi) Eze, (Jordan) Ayew and Mateta. They have good structure, strong defensively with (Joachim) Andersen leading the back five, the physicality is always there. Selhurst Park is always difficult.바카라
