Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he knows it will be more difficult for his side to compete this season with the amount of injuries they have.
City head into their Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon off the back of their first two defeats of the season, having lost back to back matches against Tottenham then Bournemouth.
Guardiola’s men have been hampered by injuries this season, with Ballon d’Or winner Rodri out for the rest of the season and several key first team players facing spells on the sideline.
The Spaniard admits it will be impossible to reach the same heights as in previous seasons, due to the mounting injury issues and increased fixture list:
“I know our standards. We lost one game in the Premier League,” he said. “Maybe we will lose against Brighton and Tottenham but we lost one game and we are two points behind a top class team in Liverpool.
“We have done decently in the Champions League, would say. I understand. I know people expect us to win 38 games 5-0 and win The Treble every season because this is our standards but this will not happen.
“It’s more difficult because we have a lot of absences because sometimes there are seasons where it happens. To win The Treble everything has to be on the same page: no injuries, good momentum, opponents drop points at important moments.
“This is not possible because Oscar [Bobb] was the best player in pre-season and we miss him a lot, Jack [Grealish] is still not fit and Rodri, the best player in the world, is not here for the rest of the season.
“We know that we are going to struggle and that is the point. Accept that we are going to struggle and it is fine. Every game will be more difficult than when everything was smooth so it’s not a situation that is always the same; we won six Premier Leagues in seven years and situations change. It’s the reality.”
