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Pep Guardiola downplayed the idea of resting Manchester City players in their upcoming Champions League matches as he seeks to send a message to players about the standards he expects.
The Blues have made it through the group stage in Europe with two games to spare after four consecutive victories and last week the manager took advantage of more players returning from injury to leave Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker at home for the trip to Olympiacos. .
However, the players have fought for goals and points at the national level; They have only won four of nine Premier League games and were on their lowest scoring streak since 2006 before Burnley’s 5-0 thrashing.
Guardiola has taken advantage of the improvement in the injury situation in the squad to try to promote competition among the players and reiterated that point several times in his press conference on Saturday after leaving Aymeric Laporte, Aleks Zinchenko and Nathan Ake out of his squad of the day by the convincing house. win.
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When asked about the upcoming trip to Porto, the City manager emphasized that no one in the team should take it as a good sign if they are not in the starting eleven for what is effectively a dead rubber.
“It’s not about resting here,” he said. “I saw Kevin a bit mentally exhausted, that’s true. But right now I see the players who are in better condition or more focused.
“If the players think they have rested because I am rotating, they have made a big mistake. In each game I choose the best players, sometimes for the benefit of the team, sometimes due to injuries, but above all those who play well.
Manchester City returned to Premier League action this weekend by blowing up Burnley at the Etihad Stadium.
The Blues already have an excellent record against the Clarets, and they maintained that record Saturday afternoon with a resounding 5-0 victory.
Riya Mahrez scored his first hat-trick for City, Benjamin Mendy scored his first goal for the Blues and Ferran Torres scored again.
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“Any player who thinks he deserves to be a starter because he’s been here for three or four years makes a big mistake. Every player, from the youngest of Phil Foden to the most experienced of Fernandinho, deserves the same treatment and opportunities.
“It doesn’t matter if you win a lot of titles in the past or if you score a lot of goals, you have to show it on the patch, in the recent past, in the present and especially in the future.”
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