Pep Guardiola missing Manchester City's World Cup stars
Saturday 28 July 2018 16:11, UK
Pep Guardiola says it hasn't been easy without his World Cup stars during Manchester City's pre-season tour.
The City manager is currently without 15 of the 16 of the Sky Blues players who competed in the World Cup.
The only returning player from the tournament is Bernardo Silva.
"That is not the easiest situation for any manager, not just for me," said Guardiola, speaking ahead of City's International Champions Cup match against Bayern Munich in Miami on Sunday.
"I would prefer to be all together but I think for [Bayern Munich manager] Niko Kovac or for the other managers it's the same, the calendar is the calendar and we will have to adapt.
"We would prefer for players to come back as soon as possible but it is not possible."
Despite being without many of their key players, goalkeeper Claudio Bravo highlighted how important it is for City's young players to make the most of the opportunities of playing for the club during pre-season.
"We have young guys that have a lot of potential," said Bravo.
"I think we have to give them that extra push so that they take advantage of this opportunity because it's the door they have for the future.
"They shouldn't see these matches as merely friendly matches but rather an open door to be competing for bigger things."
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