Pep Guardiola has slammed suggestions over a disagreement with Raheem Sterling as he prepares his squad in Manchester City for the Champions League clash on Tuesday with Borussia Monchengladbach.
City manager Guardiola left England forward Sterling out of his matchday squad for the Premier League leaders’ victory at Fulham on Saturday as he surrounded his players.
There were rumors on social media afterwards that the pair had fallen out of favor, but were quickly rejected by Sterling.
Now Guardiola has been assured that Sterling has dealt well with his neglect and the 26-year-old will be back with controversy to face Monchengladbach in the second half of their last-16 tie in Budapest .
Guardiola said: “He travels with the team, of course. The entire squad travels to Budapest to play the Champions League.
“Raheem and all the players always train and deal very well. I don’t think they’re happy, the boys don’t play, it’s normal, it’s never happened since football was invented.
“Raheem has been so important and he is so important to the team and to us all.
“All the players respect my decisions, of course they do. I have never found in my career in 14 years as a single player manager that they were happy when they are not playing, but they are busy and behave well. ”
Guardiola said it was not necessary for Sterling to deny the rumors that the couple had disagreed.
“Some subtle rumors about social benefits today … That’s completely FALSE,” Sterling wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Looking forward to a great week with the team. ”
Asked about this tweet, Guardiola said: “It doesn’t have to be. Nothing happened. He wasn’t elected, that’s it.
“At times during the season, for example when we traveled to Stamford Bridge, we had 14 players in our first team and the rest were from the Academy. In that situation the choice is easy to make and everyone is happy and engaged.
“When you have 20 first-class players (available) who have been extremely successful, it will always be unfair on them. That is the point. I have 20 players now.
“In that game (Fulham) he was not selected (Sterling) but in another game it was other players. ”
In an interesting press conference to get a preview of the Monchengladbach game, which will start City with a 2-0 overall lead, Guardiola publicly downplayed claims from defender Oleksandr Zinchenko that his side can beat the quadrangle win.
Speaking in front of his manager, Zinchenko responded at left-back when asked if City can win all four trophies in which they are competing this term.
“Of course everything is possible,” said the 24-year-old Ukrainian. “We have an amazing squad, the best players in the world. Absolutely not, why not?
“Inside the dressing room I can see hungry eyes. Everyone is so hungry for the titles. That is what we want. “
Guardiola almost immediately agreed.
“I’m older than Mr. Zinchenko, I have more experience and I don’t agree with him,” said the mayor, who is 26 years a senior back. “The only thing he has to worry about is trying to make a good game tomorrow and trying to get through.
“Four titles is a utopia. It has never happened before and I think it will never happen. We just think about this one, then the next one at Goodison Park, then the international break. If you ask me if I would agree with Zinchenko, I would say no, absolutely not. ”