Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is yet to shake off a minor muscle issue and will miss Friday’s Premier League clash with Newcastle United, manager Pep Guardiola said on Thursday.
De Bruyne did not feature in City’s 2-1 defeat by Chelsea last weekend because of the problem, but the Premier League champions are hopeful he can recover ahead of this month’s Champions League final against Chelsea.
“He’s still injured but he’s getting better,” Guardiola told a news conference, before adding that the players who were 100 percent fit mentally and physically would have a chance to play in the final.
“Before that we have three games to get information about how the team is and the players to play in the last game of the season.”
City won their third Premier League title in five seasons under Guardiola and their fifth in the last 10 with three games to spare in the campaign after second-placed Manchester United lost 2-1 at home to Leicester City on Tuesday.
They also won a fourth-straight League Cup this season and can seal a treble by beating Chelsea in the May 29 final of the Champions League, which was shifted from Istanbul to Porto earlier on Thursday.
“… Istanbul, I never had the opportunity to go since my experience as a player in Barcelona, even in the Champions League draws… UEFA has decided to go to Portugal, so no problem there,” Guardiola said.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
