Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola revealed that Argentine youngster Claudio Echeverri, who netted in the Premier League side鈥檚 6-0 win over Al Ain, will miss the Mancunian unit鈥檚 upcoming FIFA Club World Cup 2025 fixture against Serie A giants Juventus.
Guardiola stated that Echeverri will be out for the next couple of weeks following the ankle injury he picked up against the UAE outfit in City鈥檚 previous encounter.
鈥淗e has some problems with his ankle. It will be two or three weeks out, unfortunately,鈥 Guardiola said.
鈥淚 feel so sorry for him, for all of us. We鈥檙e going to play new players in the next game too, yeah. And in the second half too, I make the selection tomorrow, the line-up, thinking of the second half,鈥 he added.
鈥淲ith these conditions we鈥檙e not ready to play in the rhythm we鈥檙e playing for 90 minutes. Hopefully we can make more substitutions but it鈥檚 fine,鈥 the Spaniard added.
City and Juventus, who have both booked their berth in the Round of 16 of the revamped edition of the tournament in North America, will take on each other with the top spot in the group up for grabs. Both sides have six points each in two fixtures, however, Juve are placed ahead of City heading into the high-profile clash due to their superior goal scoring record.
Guardiola was also asked if Rodri was ready to make his first start since injuring his ACL against Arsenal last season.
Guardiola also expressed his delight with the progress of Ballon d鈥橭r winner Rodri as the Spanish midfielder works towards regaining peak fitness, following his return from a long-term injury.
鈥淩odri, yeah he can play, of course not for 90 minutes but the last 30 or 35 minutes,鈥 the City boss said.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been making a step forward in the last three or four days. He didn鈥檛 have some problems and niggles, you sometimes have. We鈥檙e happy we could add minutes to him,鈥 the 54-year-old added.