Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola decided to tweak his regular starting lineup in the Premier League clash against Aston Villa on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
With the Citizens trailing Arsenal and Liverpool in the three-horse race for the Premier League, it was thought the Spaniard would field his best options in the game against top-four hopefuls Aston Villa.
Surprisingly, Guardiola’s lineup tweak saw two of Manchester City’s best players – Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne – dropped to the bench.
The pair played the full 90 minutes in the top-of-the-table clash against Arsenal at the weekend and were fit to return to action against Aston Villa.
Erling Haaland was nowhere to be found against Arsenal and was slammed by Roy Keane for playing like a League Two player in the match.
Kevin De Bruyne failed to recreate his usual defense-piercing and magical passes as Arsenal held the hosts to ransom with resolute defence to escape with a point from Etihad.
It was thought the subpar delivery by the duo must have necessitated Guardiola’s decision to drop them but the Spaniard has come out to debunk such reports.
Speaking after the Aston Villa match, Guardiola revealed he dropped the pair to manage their minutes ahead of their next fixture against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
“We have out next match in two-and-a-half-days against Crystal Palace. So, we have to manage the minutes of the players,” he said.
Futballnews understands Guardiola’s slight change to the lineup against Aston Villa is an inkling of how he will manage the squad in the coming days and weeks as the club brace for a marathon of domestic and Champions League fixtures.
We reported earlier the Spaniard had blasted England FA and the Premier League for a congested schedule that could dampen City’s silverware and possibly treble chances this season.
Manchester City will play Crystal Palace in their next game at the weekend before taking on Real Madrid in a crunch Champions League quarterfinal first-leg tie next week in Madrid.
It is more likely he will rotate the squad again against Crystal Palace due to the Real Madrid match.
