Man Utd not in Guardiola's thoughts as Aguero in contention to return against Marseille

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The Spaniard says that he will pick a side to beat the Ligue 1 side in their final group game and that he's not thinking about the derby clash

Pep Guardiola says he will not rest players for the Champions League clash with Marseille, despite having the Manchester Derby just three days later.

Manchester City have already secured a place in the knockout stages of Europe's premier club competition after finishing top of Group C with a game to spare.

Guardiola says he has an almost full squad to choose from, with Sergio Aguero in contention for a place on the bench after stepping up his recovery from injury.

"We are going to decide [on Aguero]. Maybe he will be on the bench, we’ll see his reaction tomorrow in his body, not just his knee," the City boss said.

"The last two or three days he’s been part of the training and the reaction and the niggles from the recent past have disappeared.

"Everyone has played a lot of minutes so we’ll play the game to win. I don’t rotate the team, I try to put in the players in the best condition, decide the best [line-up] for specific teams, there’s not one team for one competition and one for another.

"Everyone was involved in last few days and that’s good in this tight schedule, everyone has to be ready."

While City's European progress has been straightforward, Saturday's opponents Manchester United face a make-or-break clash against RB Leipzig on Tuesday night.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team need a point from their game in Germany to join City in the last 16 but despite the intensity of their final group game, Guardiola says it doesn't hand his side an advantage.

"They’ll be focused today and when the next game is a derby they will still be focused," he added. "That’s my experience."

Guardiola has been mindful of protecting his squad all season with the hectic schedule increasing the risk of injuries.

But the City boss insisted that the players which face Marseille are capable of forcing their way into his thoughts for the game at Old Trafford.

"The team that plays tomorrow, they can play against United, or maybe not," he said. "I want to win this game, it’s not because of one more day, or one less.

"In previous Christmas times we had less days, tomorrow we have the chance to win and then on Thursday or Friday we will think about United."

2020-12-08 18:00:02

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