Pep Guardiola insists he will rotate Man City side for Gladbach trip

Pep Guardiola insists it is ‘impossible to sustain this rhythm’ and will rotate his Manchester City side for Champions League trip to Gladbach after making it 18 wins in a row at Arsenal

  • Pep Guardiola guided Manchester City to a 1-0 win at Arsenal on Sunday night
  • The City manager made five changes for the trip to the Emirates Stadium 
  • Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan started after recent injuries for the pair
  • Guardiola claims he will rotate again for Borussia Moenchengladbach next week

Pep Guardiola reveals he will rotate his side again for Manchester City’s Champions League tie with Borussia Moenchengladbach after the Premier League leaders won at Arsenal. 

The City manager made five changes to his side for Sunday’s 1-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium which came courtesy of Raheem Sterling’s second-minute header.

Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, who have both had recent injury woes, started the Arsenal match while Fernandinho, John Stones and Oleksandr Zinchenko also started meaning Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Sergio Aguero were unused on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola admits he will rotate his Manchester City side for the Moenchengladbach game

Guardiola made five changes for City’s win at Arsenal on Sunday via Raheem Sterling’s winner 

But despite the win, Guardiola claims his side suffered against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and some players will need extra recovery ahead of Wednesday’s European tie. 

The Spaniard told Sky Sports: ‘It was hard like we expected it would be. We suffered a lot. It’s difficult to play against Arsenal and Mikel, that’s why I give the players incredible credit for this victory. 

‘People look at our run of wins and think it’s so easy. I didn’t expect it. I’m more than grateful for these players for what they’re doing, but winning these games 1-0 is what we need to do. 

‘Fernandinho commanded absolutely everything in the middle. We need everyone. Now having a game every three days with travel, I’m going to have to rotate the team. It’s impossible to sustain this rhythm.

Guardiola picked Kevin de Bruyne (right) and Ilkay Gundogan at Arsenal despite recent injuries

‘We now have four games in a row in the Premier League. We know what we want to do. We want to make a big step.’

Manchester City took the lead after just 79 seconds as Riyad Mahrez crossed for Sterling who peeled off Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin to head home.

The visitors dominated the opening 15 minutes of the match and while they allowed Arsenal to grow into the game, the league leaders managed to keep the Gunners at arms length to maintain their 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Instead of pushing for another goal towards the end, City opted to sit deep and let Arsenal come forwards – a tactic which Guardiola praised due to Arsenal’s strength under former City assistant Arteta.

Guardiola claims his side are drained after a tough workout from Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal (right)

Guardiola added: ‘The last 10-15 minutes was brilliant. We didn’t push the action, the action came through the passes and movements in the right tempo.

‘At half-time we adjusted our pressing and won a lot of balls. In the first half we could not. The second half was better. We didn’t create chances but enough to win the game.

‘Mikel knows everything. He’s so good. It’s not because he’s my friend. He’s so clever. I learn a lot watching his teams. Today I learned something that I can use in the future. He knows everything about football.’




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