Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City faces a challenging road ahead due to a growing injury crisis but has encouraged the English champions to regroup ahead of their Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
City heads to Portugal after back-to-back losses to Tottenham in the League Cup and Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday, ending an 11-month unbeaten league streak.
Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, sidelined for the rest of the season with a knee injury, headlines a list of key absentees that also includes Oscar Bobb, Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish, and John Stones. Kevin De Bruyne could make his first appearance in seven weeks, though a starting role is unlikely, while Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Jeremy Doku, and Savinho are also nursing injuries.
"You know the situation with Rodri, recently named the best player in the world," said Guardiola in Monday's pre-match press conference. "We know we’ll struggle, and we have to accept that; it’s part of the game."
"The games will be tough; in previous seasons, it went smoothly. With injuries and personal reasons, we’ve won six Premier Leagues in seven years, but things change, and we must adapt."
Guardiola will face future rival Ruben Amorim, who manages Sporting for one of his last games before taking the helm at Manchester United.
The teams last met in the 2021/22 Champions League round of 16, where City secured a dominant 5-0 win in Lisbon.
"They’ve changed players but kept the same manager and mentality," Guardiola said of Sporting. "Winning the league after 20 years and repeating it shows how well they’re managed."
City’s Bernardo Silva, who scored twice in that 5-0 win, urged his team to avoid making excuses despite the injury challenges.
"With a full squad, we’re stronger—no denying it. We have some unbelievable players out," said Silva. "We've missed Kevin for six weeks, Rodri’s out for the season, and others are out for shorter times. But this club has never made excuses."
Both City and Sporting remain unbeaten in the Champions League's new format, with each team sitting on seven points from three games.