City have received injury boosts to their squad and the manager wants his players to seize the advantage
Pep Guardiola has revealed that Erling Haaland was left out of Manchester City’s FA Cup trip to Newcastle United in order to help the striker regain full sharpness ahead of a crucial Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
Haaland was absent from City’s squad for Saturday’s 3-1 victory at St James’ Park, where Pep Guardiola’s side secured a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Rather than include the Norwegian forward in the travelling group, the City manager decided it would be more beneficial for him to remain in Manchester and focus on training.
The striker is still working his way back after the injury that forced him to miss the 1-0 win over Leeds United last month, and Guardiola believes the extra preparation time will help restore his usual explosiveness.
“I didn’t think to let him play and I prefer him training to make a rhythm,” Guardiola said. “After injury, when he drops, he always struggles to have that real pace.”
Haaland is expected to return to the squad for City’s upcoming Champions League round-of-16 first leg against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, with the team set to travel to Spain on Tuesday.
City head into the European knockout fixture in strong form, having gone 11 matches unbeaten since the 3-1 defeat to Bodo/Glimt in January. Guardiola has also been boosted by a fuller squad, with several players recently returning from injury.
Against Newcastle, Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Nico Gonzalez, John Stones and Nathan Ake all started after spells on the sidelines, while January arrivals Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi are now eligible to feature in the Champions League.
Guardiola believes having key players available during the final stretch of the season gives his side an incredible advantage they need to seize.
“We have experience of that with the treble – you have to arrive in the decisive moment of the season with players,” said Guardiola.
“It’s a pity that the Premier League is not in our hands. That is a big drop against Nottingham but don’t think much, recover, go to Madrid, make a good selection and hopefully we can behave – win or lose – in the way we are.
“That’s always been my focus, when we play on the biggest stages against the big teams it’s not about winning or losing but being who we are as individuals and as a team.”
