Guardiola Sees Silver Lining in Extra Prep Time for Juventus

Manchester City manager Guardiola grateful for extra time to recover and prepare for Juventus.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has expressed his gratitude for the extra day to prepare for their upcoming Champions League clash against Juventus. This additional time will allow his team to recover from their recent league game against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Manchester City's squad has been severely depleted due to illness and injury, with key players such as Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, John Stones, and Phil Foden currently sidelined. The team's title aspirations suffered a setback after being held to a 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park, and the extra day to prepare for Juventus will be crucial in helping Guardiola's stretched squad regain their footing.

Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake were the latest to join City's list of absentees, both sidelined after injuries suffered in their 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest last week.

“My people have started to study (Juventus) and fortunately we don't play on Tuesday, we play on Wednesday so we have one more day to recover these players because we don’t have players to come back,” the Spaniard told reporters.

Guardiola acknowledged that the medical team is diligently working to rehabilitate injured players. He emphasized that injuries are an inevitable aspect of professional football and urged the team to embrace the challenges that arise from these setbacks. He suggested that overcoming these hurdles could ultimately lead to greater satisfaction than simply winning titles.

“Don’t feel sorry, accept the challenge and maybe at the end we will have more satisfaction about the way we behave than in other seasons when we won the titles,” he added.

In their recent Champions League matches, Manchester City suffered a 4-1 defeat against Sporting and a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord.