Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne needs to be eased back into action after his lay-off with a muscle injury, manager Pep Guardiola said, adding that the midfielder is a doubt for today’s Champions League match at home to Sparta Prague.
The 33-year-old De Bruyne was injured against Inter Milan in the Champions League last month and has missed the English champions’ last six fixtures. City are already without midfielders Rodri and Oscar Bobb due to long-term injuries but Guardiola said he would resist the temptation to call on De Bruyne until the Belgian was comfortable.
“Well, except for Rodri and Oscar, the other ones are in training and getting better, but guys like Kevin for example are not exactly fit,” the Spaniard told reporters. “It’s not a new issue but he doesn’t feel completely fine. Kevin is not 22 years old, he has to be fit for his football. He doesn’t feel comfortable that he can express his incredible potential at his best. He is training better but he doesn’t feel good. He said he doesn’t feel good. If you don’t feel good, take your time.”
Guardiola had a more positive outlook on England midfielder Phil Foden, who last season scored 28 goals for club and country in all competitions and was named PFA Player of the Year but has had a stop-start campaign this time around due to illness. The 24-year-old was instrumental in City’s 2-1 Premier League victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, delivering the corner which led to John Stones’ stoppage-time winner.
“He feels much better. The minutes he played last game, for example,” Guardiola said. “With Phil, you realise immediately when he is happy and fit and mentally in the right moment. You realise he’s getting better and better.”
Today, City face Czech champions Sparta, who are level with them on four points after beating RB Salzburg 3-0 in their opener and drawing 1-1 with VfB Stuttgart. “They created a lot of problems (for Stuttgart). I didn’t know Sparta until the last two days when I started to watch them and I have a good impression,” Guardiola added.
Guardiola also praised the spirit and desire of his players after their last-gasp win against Wolves. City, unbeaten this season, go into the game against Sparta buoyed by John Stones’ 95th-minute winner at Molineux on Sunday, which kept them on the shoulders of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
City, who have won four consecutive Premier League titles, are playing in European football’s elite club competition for the 14th straight season. Guardiola said the manner of the win at Wolves and the way his men celebrated showed their enduring hunger.
“How we celebrate when a team now is in the position in the bottom (Wolves), how we celebrate in October, not in May or April like it’s happened, I feel the team still have the passion,” he said. “How we celebrate in the locker room, I still feel ‘OK, they still want it, still we are there’ and that means a lot to me, a lot. They know, the team, how difficult it is to be consistent for six, seven years. You can be consistent for a month, for a season, but six, seven years and still now we are there. All the teams go down, still we are in that position.”
Guardiola said he was “more than happy” with how his team were coping in the absence of key midfielder Rodri, who has been ruled out of the rest of the season with a knee injury. The City boss said it was important to make home advantage count against their Czech opponents, with tough away trips to come to Sporting Lisbon, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. The new-look league format for this season’s competition means only the top eight teams out of 36 automatically qualify for the knockout stages after the initial eight-match schedule.
“It is not easy,” said Guardiola. “The games we have at home we have to close it, otherwise it’ll be difficult to finish in the first eight and that’s the target we want to achieve.”