The focus switches to Europe for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City as they look to book a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the fifth season running ahead of the return-leg of their knockout tie with Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday evening.
A brace each from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez sealed a stylish derby victory for the Premier League champions over Manchester United at the weekend, with City six points clear at the top of the table ahead of their trip to Selhurst Park this weekend.
The Sky Blues were at their ruthless best in the Round of 16 first-leg in Portugal in February, as a clinical first-half display saw Guardiola’s side enter the interval with a four-goal lead before Raheem Sterling put the icing on the cake for the visitors with a stunning fifth.
As per training ground footage released by Manchester City on various social channels, a total of 23 players were spotted in first-team training on Tuesday afternoon, leading to the Champions League game against Sporting on Wednesday:
23 Manchester City Players Spotted in Training
Goalkeepers: Ederson, Scott Carson
Defenders: Kyle Walker, CJ Egan-Riley, Shea Charles, John Stones, Luke Mbete, Aymeric Laporte, Oleksandr Zinchenko
Midfielders: Rodri, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, James McAtee, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne
Forwards: Kayky, Liam Delap, Gabriel Jesus, Samuel Edozie, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish
As for the notable Manchester City players missing from the aforementioned list, Pep Guardiola confirmed in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that Joao Cancelo is sick and is unavailable for the clash.
Zack Steffen remains out with a back injury though Guardiola said ahead of the tie that Nathan Ake is expected to return to training in the coming days, as is Cole Palmer.
Ruben Dias is set for a significant spell on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury ahead of the Manchester derby, with the Portugal international set to spend four to six weeks on the treatment table.
It is noting that Kyle Walker will serve the second of his three-game Champions League suspension when Sporting visit the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, with Guardiola admitting ahead of the clash that the right-back deserves to serve the full length of the ban.
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