Pep Guardiola unsure how “exhausted” Manchester City will recover for FA Cup semi-final
Pep Guardiola has revealed that he has concerns over whether his “exhausted” Manchester City side will recover in time for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United.
The Citizens have booked their place in the last four of the Champions League courtesy of a 4-1 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich, including a 1-1 second-leg draw played out at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.
Erling Braut Haaland made amends for firing a first-half penalty over the crossbar when he slotted home the opening goal, and his 48th of the season in all competitions, in the 57th minute, before Joshua Kimmich netted a consolation goal from 12 yards in the final 10 minutes following a harsh handball decision against Manuel Akanji.
Man City have set up a blockbuster semi-final tie with Champions League holders Real Madrid which is scheduled take place in the middle of May, but Guardiola’s side will now focus on boosting their hopes of winning two domestic trophies in the form of the Premier League and FA Cup.
The Citizens have already played five matches this month and will now prepare for this weekend’s trip to Wembley for a FA Cup last-four tie with Sheffield United, before shifting their attention back to the Premier League title race with a top-of-the-table battle at home against leaders Arsenal next Wednesday.
Guardiola and co are regarded as firm favourites to come out on top against their Championship counterparts in the FA Cup, but the Catalan boss has doubts over whether his side will be ready for the encounter in the capital.
Speaking to BT Sport after the second-leg draw with Bayern, Guardiola said: “Every time we play FA Cup after this competition we are exhausted.
“The team is exhausted, so I don’t know how we are going to recover to play against Sheffield because we play on Saturday. We cannot play on Sunday, because of course [Manchester] United have Europa League.
“It’s so demanding, so I don’t know how we will arrive because now is a tough moment for the game on Saturday.”
On Man City’s performance at the Allianz Arena, Guardiola added: “We struggled in the first half. [Dayot] Upamecano broke all the lines down our left side and we struggled with [Kingsley] Coman.
“We were fortunate before the penalty miss, they had one or two chances and anything could happen but we defended really well.
“The finishing from Erling was really, really good. He is so young. The experience that we have in this competition, the players feel it a lot, they want to do it really well. The second half was much, much better since minute one.”
The Citizens were blessed with a fully-fit squad for the trip to Germany, with Phil Foden returning to the substitutes’ bench after a spell on the sidelines recovering from appendicitis.
However, defender Nathan Ake was forced off with a hamstring injury midway through the second half and has emerged as a major doubt for Saturday’s encounter with Sheffield United.
Speaking to Sky Sports reporter Ben Ransom after the game, Ake said: “I’ve had it before and it feels a little bit less to be honest, but you never know with these things, so we will do the ultrasounds and stuff tomorrow and then hopefully it’s not too bad.”
Aymeric Laporte replaced Ake for the final 25 minutes against Bayern, and the left-footed defender could be selected to start against Sheffield United should his Dutch teammate fail to recover in time.
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