Pep Guardiola is unsure about whether to restore Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne to his Manchester City line-up at Crystal Palace on Saturday with Real Madrid looming next week.
The pair were unused substitutes in midweek as City stayed three points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool by brushing aside Aston Villa 4-1, with Phil Foden bagging a sensational hat-trick.
But as a visit to Palace at lunchtime on Saturday is followed by a mouthwatering trip to the Spanish capital to face Real on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, this season’s leading goal-scorer Haaland and key playmaker De Bruyne might be kept on ice once again this weekend.
“I don’t know yet,” Guardiola said, when asked about the prospect of Haaland and De Bruyne returning to face Palace. “Playing at 12:30pm and playing two days ago, I have to think. There are so many games.
“We play less than two and a half days after our last game. Some players recover quicker than others. A long week is completely different but a short week, you have to talk with doctors, physios and staff.
“We are used to playing every three days over many months and months. For many, many years it has happened that way.
“We play 12:30pm, it’s perfect. More time to recover for the next game in Madrid. We then play on Saturday against Chelsea in the FA Cup afterwards, it’s not fair but we are going to do it.
“We take one game at a time and don’t give up. We are not new to European competitions so the players know how to handle it, not all the time but most of the time.”
City, who could welcome back goalkeeper Ederson at Selhurst Park but are still without defenders Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake, have dropped just six points in an unbeaten 13-match league run.
But with both Liverpool and Arsenal ahead of them, Guardiola reiterated that all City can do to keep alive hopes of a fourth successive league crown is win all of their eight remaining fixtures.
“I hope so but it doesn’t solve the problem if we don’t do our job,” Guardiola said after being asked about whether he expects their title rivals to drop points.
“If we were at the top of the league it would be in our hands, that’s not the case, so what we have to do is win our games. I hope it happens but we cannot control it.
“The quality of the opponent is why we have to keep going and at the end we will realise which team is there.”
Guardiola, who said he had “no opinion” on rumours of a luxury tax being imposed on Premier League clubs to help regulate on overspending, admitted he is wary of upcoming opponents Palace.
The Eagles have taken points in six of their last 12 meetings with City, winning in December 2018 and October 2021 along with four draws – most recently coming from 2-0 down in December with goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta and Michael Olise.
“They’ve always been tough,” he added. “I think (manager Oliver) Glasner is doing a really good job.
“The quality is there with (Eberechi) Eze, (Jordan) Ayew and Mateta. They have good structure, strong defensively with (Joachim) Andersen leading the back five, the physicality is always there. Selhurst Park is always difficult.”
Rangers 1-4 Lyon: Lacazette and Fofana at the double as Clement's men outclassed
Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette each scored twice as Lyon outclassed Rangers 4-1 in the Europa League at Ibrox on Thursday.
Former Arsenal striker Lacazette scored twice before the break after Tom Lawrence had earlier cancelled out Fofana's opener in Glasgow, with the latter also netting again in the second half.
Vaclav Cerny was punished for woefully blazing over the bar when Fofana bent home on the rebound from the hugely impressive Rayan Cherki's shot after 10 minutes.
Lawrence quickly prodded home the equaliser when Cyriel Dessers was denied, but an awful error from Connor Barron led to Fofana laying on a simple finish for Lacazette.
The Frenchman then made it 3-1 with a whipped 25-yard stunner before the break and Fofana poked home Cherki's low cross at the back post to add more gloss shortly after the restart.
Duje Caleta-Car saw a header thunder off the crossbar and Corentin Tolisso had a shot cleared off the line, while substitute Said Benrahma was also denied as Lyon pushed to really emphasise their dominance of proceedings.
Data Debrief: Lyon forwards tormentors in chief
Rangers, who won impressively at Malmo on MD1, just had no answer for the dynamism of a Lyon side who are now two from two and second in the table.
Lacazette was playing his 50th game in the Europa League and scored his 23rd and 24th goals in the competition. Only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (34) and Aritz Aduriz (26) have scored more since his first appearance in September 2012.
Cherki set up both of Fofana's goals in an excellent display and has six goal involvements in only five Europa League starts (three goals, three assists), while Fofana scored and assisted in the same game for the first time for Lyon.
Rangers have a night to forget and this represented only the first time in the Europa League/UEFA Cup they have conceded four goals at home, and only the third time overall.
City striker 'Bunny' Shaw targets more success with hopes of inspiring young girls in Jamaica
Despite achieving much of what she set out to already, Reggae Girl and Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw intends to keep pushing the barriers and she hopes to inspire others to chase their dreams.
Shaw, who has overcome her fair share of obstacles and tragedies to get to where she is at, has been a role model for young athletes in Jamaica and the Caribbean, particularly aspiring women’s football players, as she continues to impress on the international stage and in the Women's Super League (WSL) since her move to City in 2021.
The 27-year-old ended last season as the WSL’s top scorer, assisting the Gareth Taylor-coached side to the runners-up position behind champions Chelsea, merely on goal difference.
Her performances throughout that campaign, which was cut short by a broken leg, also saw her cop the PFA Women's Players' Player of the year and the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year awards.
"When I look back at my childhood, I didn’t really have a lot of people I could look to, apart from Usain Bolt, of course. I didn’t have a lot of people who I could look to and say, ‘I want to be like that.’ One of the main reasons was that I wasn’t really allowed to play," Shaw said in an interview with BBC Sport.
“Now, looking at where the game is and where it is going, I think there is more room for that. For me, it’s just being alive and being in the moment. It’s staying true to who I am. Hopefully, by doing that each and every day, it works out in the end,” she added.
Black History Month in England, celebrated throughout the month of October, continues to shine a spotlight on athletes who have broken barriers to achieve success.
With her accolades and accomplishments speaking for themselves, Shaw is aiming to continue setting the standard for others to follow.
"I just try to be the best I can be and hope that by doing that, there are others looking on [who can] see that if I can do it, then it’s possible. Hopefully I can inspire a lot of the young girls back home in Jamaica that it is definitely possible,” the two-time Ballon d'Or award nominee shared.
"It’s been a long journey for me. I had to travel around the world to get here. Now I am here, I’m just embracing the moment and loving every part of it. The ups and downs are parts of life and that’s how you grow as a person. But I just try to be the best that I can and hopefully inspire more girls,” Shaw noted.
Chelsea 4-2 Gent: Veiga and Dewsbury-Hall off the mark in Conference League cracker
Renato Veiga and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall each scored their first Chelsea goals in a cracking 4-2 victory over Gent in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Enzo Maresca decided to make wholesale changes in the Blues' opening match of the league phase of Europe's third-tier competition, but they were still a class above their Belgian opponents.
Full-back Veiga headed Chelsea into a 12th-minute lead after Mykhailo Mudryk stood up a brilliant cross from the right and Dewsbury-Hall fired into the side-netting when he ought to have scored soon after.
Despite their domination of the ball, it took the Blues until the 46th minute to double their lead when Pedro Neto took hold of Axel Disasi's long punt and fired into the roof of the goal.
Some slack Chelsea defending was punished when Tsuyoshi Watanabe headed in from the cross of Andri Gudjohnsen, son of Blues great Eidur.
Christopher Nkunku rifled home from just inside the area after Gent failed to clear their lines just after the hour and Dewsbury-Hall shot straight through the goalkeeper after Nkunku was tackled attempting to take a shot – with Omri Gandelman celebrating a late consolation for the visitors.
Data Debrief: Dewsbury-Hall stakes his Chelsea claim
This was a great chance for a few Chelsea players to stake their claim for more regular Premier League minutes and Dewsbury-Hall put in an industrious performance to do his chances no harm.
Signed from Leicester City in the last transfer window, the centre midfielder had four shots in total, three of which were in the box, and scored from his one big chance. He also had an impressive 91.2% pass accuracy.
Neto too had a very lively outing, creating five chances in total and finishing with a pass accuracy rate of 97%.
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