Pep Guardiola said he gave Erling Haaland the night off against Newcastle United to allow the striker to rediscover his “pace” before Manchester City’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.
Haaland was absent from the squad for the 3-1 win in the FA Cup at St James’ Park on Saturday.
City decided it was better for the striker to remain in Manchester to train rather than travel to Newcastle as he continues to recover from the injury which saw him miss a 1-0 win over Leeds United on Feb 28.
Haaland is set to be part of the group which travels to Madrid on Tuesday ahead of the Champions League last-16 first leg tie at the Bernabeu.
“I didn’t think to let him play and I prefer him training to make a rhythm,” said Guardiola. “After injury, when he drops, he always struggles to have that real pace.”
City head to Madrid on a run of 11 games unbeaten since their 2-0 defeat to Bodo/Glimt in January.
Guardiola’s Champions League run has been boosted by Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi, who are now eligible after their January moves, and the return of a number of players from injury.
Jérémy Doku, Savinho, Nico González, John Stones and Nathan Aké all started against Newcastle after spells on the sidelines.
“We have experience of that with the treble — you have to arrive in the decisive moment of the season with players,” said Guardiola.
“It’s a pity that the Premier League is not in our hands. That is a big drop against Nottingham but don’t think much, recover, go to Madrid, make a good selection and hopefully we can behave — win or lose — in the way we are.
“That’s always been my focus, when we play on the biggest stages against the big teams it’s not about winning or losing but being who we are as individuals and as a team.”
