Pep Guardiola insists Kevin De Bruyne "is back" after his stunning free-kick beat Leicester City, while the Manchester City head coach confirmed Erling Haaland missed out through ligament damage.
City moved to the Premier League summit on Saturday as De Bruyne's wonderful 25-yard effort sealed a narrow 1-0 victory at the King Power Stadium, where the visitors were without top scorer Haaland.
Guardiola admitted he had expected more from the Belgium international in recent weeks, while the City boss is hopeful his number nine will be fit again for next weekend's clash with Fulham.
"Kevin De Bruyne is back," Guardiola told BT Sport.
"He was not playing good the last few games, but today he was amazing. He knows it.
"There was no space and we had to be patient. [Leicester] changed it, and it was a difficult game, because they had 10 players so deep and it's so difficult.
"After we scored the goal, they changed their rhythm and in the Premier League, the last few minutes are always difficult, so it's a massive victory for us."
Asked when he thought Haaland would return, Guardiola told BBC Sport: "I don't know. He has ligament damage.
"He feels better and we have one more week as he won't play against Sevilla [on Wednesday] because we have already qualified [in the Champions League].
"And then hopefully against Fulham, he can help us. If not, he might play against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup [on November 9]."
De Bruyne believes City demonstrated their ability to cope without Haaland, while the midfield maestro also paid tribute to goalkeeper Ederson, who showed marvellous reflexes to deny Youri Tielemans' thumping 20-yard volley.
"We have proved we can win with or without Erling Haaland," De Bruyne said. "Ederson has been great. Sometimes, we only talk about his distribution, but he's a great keeper, and he proves it every week.
"We made it difficult for ourselves, we were a bit tired. They were very negative for 70 minutes, but then their changes made it a different game.
"We didn't keep the ball in their half, but we still could have scored a second."
Ranieri comes out of retirement to take charge of Roma
Claudio Ranieri has come out of retirement to take charge of Roma until the end of the season.
The Italian retired in May, calling time on a career in which he famously led Leicester City to a shock Premier League title in 2016 and coached a host of teams from Europe's top leagues, including Chelsea, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Inter and Monaco.
Ranieri, who last coached Cagliari in Serie A, returns for a third stint in charge of Roma, with whom he came agonisingly close to winning the Serie A title in his first spell between 2009 and 2011.
Across his previous two spells, the 73-year-old managed 96 games in all competitions, registering 53 wins, with a win percentage of 55.21%.
"Roma is pleased to announce that Claudio Ranieri is the new Technical Manager of the First Team," Roma said in a statement.
"At the end of the season he will take on a senior managerial role, he will be an advisor to the ownership for all sporting matters of the club.
"The search for a new coach will continue in the coming months and Claudio will also have a say in this decision."
Ranieri replaces Juric, who was sacked after Roma lost 3-2 at home against Bologna on Sunday, leaving them languishing in 12th place in the Serie A standings.
Juric, who won just four of his 12 games in charge of the club, was Roma's second coach to be fired this season, with Daniele De Rossi being sacked in September.
According to reports in Italian media, Roma found it difficult to sign a replacement for the Croatian before settling on Ranieri, with former Italy coach Roberto Mancini and Maurizio Sarri among the preferred candidates.
Ranieri's first game will be away to league leaders Napoli on November 24.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Belgium must be 'given time' to emulate Golden Generation, says Onana
Amadou Onana is happy to accept leadership responsibilities for Belgium's upcoming Nations League fixtures, but called for patience with the Red Devils' current crop of players.
Onana has become an integral part of Belgium's midfield since making his debut in June 2022, appearing a further 19 times, including at Euro 2024 earlier this year.
The 23-year-old has also impressed since his arrival at Villa Park from Everton in July, starting 12 of his 14 outings in all competitions for Unai Emery's side.
Onana has registered the most interceptions (16) for the Villans in the Premier League this season, while only Youri Tielemans has won more tackles (18) than the Belgian midfielder (15) in the top-flight.
But his importance has now transferred to the international stage, and with two must-win Nations League encounters on the horizon, Onana is happy to lead his side from the front.
"Many players see me as a leader and I have to show that on the pitch. That won't change," Onana said.
"The coach expects the same from me. I have a good understanding with him."
Onana's influence on the national side has increased in recent months, as the Red Devils aim to emulate the 'Golden Generation' that impressed at major tournaments.
Kevin De Bruyne has taken over as the captain of the team but has since asked for time off from the national team due to managing his workload.
Domenico Tedesco, however, has recalled Romelu Lukaku to his latest squad, with the Napoli striker missing Belgium's opening four games of the Nations League.
Along with De Bruyne, Lukaku played a huge role in Belgium's rise on the international stage, becoming the nation's all-time record goalscorer in the process.
Belgium, however, fell at the round of 16 stage at Euro 2024 against France in another disappointing major tournament campaign, though Onana said supporters should give the new-looking side time to gel.
"We cannot be compared, it is a different era. We have to be given time to make our mark," said Onana. "Personally, I think there should be a bit more patience.
"Everyone is talking about that golden generation, but success in 2018 was not created in 2018, but rather long before that, in 2010.
"Do you understand? We also need time to make our mark.
"I think you cannot compare these youngsters with the stars of that time. There are a lot of young boys coming in. That's good for Belgian football. We can be quite satisfied."
Belgium know defeat to Italy on Thursday will end their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Nations League, with the Red Devils currently on four points in Group A2, five points behind second-placed France.
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