Guardiola: I feel so sorry for the players that don’t play | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola admits it’s never easy to leave players out of the First XI but stresses his only focus is on getting strong results as City chase Champions League qualification.

Phil Foden, Matheus Nunes and Bernardo Silva all dropped out of the starting line-up for the 2-2 draw with Brighton while Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic were also on the bench alongside James McAtee and Vitor Reis.

Meanwhile, Nico O’Reilly, who bagged a brace in the FA Cup victory over Plymouth, missed out altogether.

The manager insists he doesn’t enjoy disappointing his stars but always selects his team based on the assets they bring to that particular game.

“All the managers around the world, they make the decision,” he said.

“They select the XI it’s because they believe it’s going to win the game. I never found a manager, never ever, that selects 11 players and thinks they are going to lose.

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“When we don’t win, it could be better but we don’t know. I try to be honest and we needed speed up front and stability in midfield with Gundo’s intelligence and the physicality from Nico because I saw many times with Brighton the physicality with Mitoma, the people up front and the midfield players and how good they are.

“Next game we will see who will play, the way we are going to play and with who we are going to play.

“I feel so sorry for all the players that don’t play. What can I say?

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“Matheus, Kova, many players, Nico wasn’t selected, McAtee. I know that.

“When we have a game every three days it’s easy to rotate but today I selected knowing the quality they have, the pace from Omar, Erling is always a threat, Jeremy was outstanding with how many times he got to the byline, Savio missed two clear chances but was really, really good.

“We take the point and continue. 27 points to play and take as much as possible.”

Bernardo, one of those on the bench at the start, did come on in the second half just before the hour mark but had to be withdrawn injured less than 20 minutes later.

Guardiola is hopeful his Portuguese playmaker, boasting 17 trophies in his City cabinet to date, can be fit enough to face Bournemouth when we return to action in the FA Cup in two weeks.

“He’s incredibly strong and an incredible lad and I was watching him for five minutes he couldn't make two steps properly,” he added.

“In that moment I decided not to take a risk.

“Hopefully it will be a knock and in two weeks he can recover. Hopefully it will be that.

“But I didn't have time yet to talk to the doctors.”