Man City put in one of their best performances of the season on Wednesday night against Aston Villa but the Premier League club did so without Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne.
The two superstars remained on the bench for the entire 90 minutes but with City travelling to Spain to play Real Madrid on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, Pep Guardiola is not certain if the duo will play against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
“I don’t know yet,” Guardiola said during his press conference on Friday via Sky Sports when asked about the prospect of Haaland and De Bruyne returning to face Palace. “Playing at 12:30pm and playing two days ago, I have to think. There are so many games.
“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. We will decide tonight or tomorrow morning.”
Huge games are on the horizon for Man City
If the duo are not ready for Crystal Palace on Saturday, Guardiola cannot risk them as there are huge games on the horizon for the Manchester club.
The Premier League champions are trying to achieve back-to-back trebles and can’t risk losing the superstars for multiple games, especially the Norwegian striker. Phil Foden has filled in for De Bruyne impeccably this season but Haaland’s goals could be the difference in winning multiple trophies between now and the end of the campaign.
Guardiola will be hoping for three points at Selhurst Park this weekend and it will be interesting to see if any of the Man City duo feature.