Manchester City Top scorer banned from featuring in…..
Due to competition rules, Man City manager Pep Guardiola will be without three key players for Friday’s Club World Cup final against Fluminense.
Fluminense will take on Manchester City in the final of the Club World Cup following their 2-0 semi-final win over Japanese side Urawa (Red Diamonds) on Tuesday night.
City will have the opportunity to lift their fifth major trophy of the year after winning the Premier League title, FA Cup title, Champions League title and Super Cup title in 2023.
Manchester City moved into the Club World Cup Final for the first time in their history with a thumping 3-0 win over Al Ahli in Jeddah on Saturday.
The hosts were boosted by an own-goal from Marius Høibåten in the 38th minute and goals in the 52nd and 53rd minutes from Mateo kovacic (2) and Bernardo Silva (2).
Kovacic’s goal was his first for the club, while Silva’s deflected strike secured the win.
Guardiola chose not to start a recognised striker with De Bruyne, Haaland and Doku all absent.
On Monday, De Bruyne returned to training with the first team as he continues to recover from surgery to repair a torn hamstring suffered on the opening day of the Premier League campaign.
Erling Haaland (left) and Jeremy Doku (right) were also left out of the semi-final 23-man squad, having missed Manchester City’s recent Premier League and Champions league games.
Haaland has been out of action since a defeat to Aston Villa, while Doku has been out since the 3-3 stalemate with Tottenham at City’s Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City will return to the Premier League on Wednesday, 27th December, when they host Everton. Due to FIFA competition regulations, next week’s game will be their next chance to play.
According to Sky Sports, the attacking trio will not be able to play in Friday’s Club World Cup Final, as the 23 players selected for the semi-final will be the only ones allowed to take part in the final.
De Bruyne (suspension), Haaland (suspension) and Doku (suspension) did not feature on the semi-final day and will therefore not be eligible to face Fluminense.
