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PEP ROULETTE: PEP GUARDIOLA CONFIRMS FULL ROTATION FOR CITY VS BRENTFORD CUP TIE

Pep Guardiola will heavily rotate his squad for the Carabao Cup quarter-final vs. Brentford, bringing in academy players as Jeremy Doku and John Stones face injury layoffs.

Pep Roulette: Pep Guardiola Confirms Full Rotation for City vs Brentford Cup Tie
Guardiola Prioritises League, Rests City's Key Players

Pep Guardiola has stated that he'll tweak Manchester City's lineup when they play Brentford in Wednesday's Carabao Cup quarter-final.

This game at the Etihad Stadium is happening shortly after City's tough 3-0 victory against Crystal Palace, which kept them in the Premier League title chase with Arsenal.

Guardiola's team, which also won against Real Madrid 2-1 at their stadium the previous week, has five league matches between December 20 and January 7. With the title race expected to get fiercer in the new year, the Brentford match is a chance for some players to rest.

Also, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush are leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations to play for Algeria and Egypt, respectively.

“We’ve now lost Rayan and Omar,” Guardiola said. “We have some injuries, like John Stones and Jeremy Doku. We’ll have to wait and see. Getting to the semi-finals is just one step away.

“Now we have less time to recover, three days instead of four. Players who haven’t played as much recently will get a chance.

“Some players from the academy will also play, because after that, we play West Ham in the league on Saturday. I’m not saying that getting to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup isn't important, but usually when we do get there, we have the whole team available, with no injuries, so we can rotate the team.”

City won the Carabao Cup four times in a row under Guardiola from 2018 to 2021, but haven't reached the final since.

Even though he's busy with the title race and European games, he insisted that he's not ignoring Wednesday's match.

“If you’re one game away from a semi-final, you should go for it,” he said. “You never know when you'll get another opportunity.”

Guardiola last made changes for the Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen at the Etihad on November 25, which ended in a 2-0 loss.

In the lineup that night were Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis, and Oscar Bobb, who haven't had many Premier League starts. They might get to play on Wednesday.

Guardiola mentioned that the defeat was mainly because of a lack of experience.

“In the Leverkusen game, we needed a more experienced player on the field,” he said. “It’s not about skill; it’s about being secure. Some players are still young and haven't played much.”

James Trafford—who Guardiola confirmed will absolutely stay at the club in January—is expected to be in goal.

However, Stones and Doku won't be playing, as Doku's injury is expected to last into January.

“Jeremy will be out for two or three weeks,” Guardiola said. “Maybe he'll return in the new year at Sunderland.”

"I’M UPSET" PEP GUARDIOLA’S HILARIOUS RESPONSE TO MANCHESTER CITY’S TRANSFER BUDGET

Pep Guardiola hits back at "big spender" claims, revealing six clubs have higher net spends than City. Get the full injury news.

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Pep Guardiola mocks "big spender" label

Pep Guardiola couldn’t resist poking fun at Manchester City’s big-spender label, joking that he’s annoyed with the club’s bosses for not splashing out even more in the transfer market. City did bring in Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi in January, bumping their spending over the last year to £430 million. But here’s the thing—City have also raked in hundreds of millions from player sales, and if you look at net spend over the last five years, six Premier League clubs, including Newcastle (who they’re facing in the Carabao Cup semi-final), have actually outspent them.

Guardiola has pushed back plenty of times against the idea that City just buy their way to success. This time, he couldn’t resist turning the spotlight on the teams that have spent even more. “Honestly, I’m a bit sad and upset because, in terms of net spend, we’re only seventh in the league over the past five years. I want to be first—I don’t get why the club doesn’t spend more. I’m a little grumpy with them,” he laughed.

He kept going: “People say we only win because we spend tonnes of money, but now there are six teams ahead of us. So, they’ve got to win all the Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues, and FA Cups, right? That’s just the reality, not an opinion.

“You can argue about how we played against Spurs—good or bad, that’s up for debate. But these spending numbers? That’s just a fact. Good luck to those six teams ahead of us on net spend. Let’s see what they do. That’s a good quote, isn’t it?”

Right now, City has a 2-0 lead over Newcastle with one leg left in the Carabao Cup semi-final. They’re hungry for another trip to Wembley, but hanging onto leads hasn’t been easy for them this season.

“That’s our focus right now,” Guardiola said. “We’re one game away from making a fifth Carabao Cup final in ten years. Sure, I’d rather start 2-0 up, but we know how tough it is against Newcastle. They’ve got Champions League pride; they always fight.

“We’ve got to be ready. Let’s see how the players bounce back after that hard game at Spurs. We’ll play our football, with our fans behind us, and try to book our place at Wembley in March.”

THE 10-GAME DROUGHT OVER: HOW HAALAND FINALLY FOUND THE NET AGAIN TODAY.

Erling Haaland ends his 10-game goal drought as Manchester City beat Galatasaray 2-0 to secure a spot in the UCL Last 16.

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City through to Last 16 as Haaland ends his scoring drought

Erling Haaland finally broke his scoring drought, and Manchester City squeezed into the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Galatasaray.

Haaland hadn’t scored from open play in ten matches, but he put that to rest with a calm finish. Rayan Cherki gave City their second just before halftime. Pep Guardiola’s team handled the Turkish side at the Etihad, but honestly, it wasn’t a smooth ride.

Other results went City’s way, so this win pushed the defending champions up to eighth in the league phase. That means they dodged the dreaded play-off round—the one that tripped them up last season.

After the final whistle, players, coaches, and fans were left waiting for results from other games. When word came through that Real Madrid had lost at Benfica, everyone in sky blue could finally relax. They’d done enough.

The night wasn’t all good news, though. Jeremy Doku, who lit up the first half and set up both goals, picked up an injury and joined City’s already long list of casualties.

Still, City will be relieved. They won’t have to deal with two extra games next month, and with four competitions on the go, every bit of rest matters.

Galatasaray’s travelling fans showed up in force. They packed city bars, marched through the streets, and set off fireworks on the way to the ground. But by the end, they were silent.

Their team, featuring old City faces Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane, managed to cling onto a spot in the top 24. Not much to celebrate, but it’s something.

City came out flying. They nearly scored inside three minutes when Rayan Ait-Nouri whipped in a cross for Haaland, but the Norwegian headed wide.

He didn’t miss his next chance. Seven minutes later, Doku zipped through the Galatasaray defence and slipped a pass to Haaland, who raced clear. Bardakci couldn’t keep up, and goalkeeper Cakir had no chance as Haaland coolly chipped the ball over him.

The city pushed for more. Cakir had to tip over a rocket from Nico O’Reilly. The second goal arrived in 29 minutes—Doku danced into the box, pulled it back for Cherki, and Cherki swept it home.

That was Doku’s last big moment. After taking some rough hits in recent games, he picked up another knock and limped off.

Galatasaray barely threatened before halftime, apart from a weak effort from Victor Osimhen. But they found more energy after the break, especially after Kurdish demonstrators briefly paused the game.

Osimhen was their main danger man. He headed at Gianluigi Donnarumma, then forced a save with a first-time shot.

The city nearly added a third when Omar Marmoush found himself in a great spot but lost his footing at the crucial moment.

A clash of heads between Tijjani Reijnders and Davinson Sanchez brought a long stoppage. Both players got bandaged up and played on, but the tempo never really picked up again.

The game fizzled out, but City did what they needed to do. They’re through.

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