The Norwegian, who had a goal disallowed in the 2-2 draw with the La Liga side, came off with a muscular issue and was assessed by the Club’s medical staff.
But Guardiola says the 24-year-old is recovering well and could be in contention to play in our final pre-season game in the US against Chelsea on Saturday.
“[His condition is] much better,” Guardiola told journalists. “He told me today he woke up much better and hopefully tomorrow he will play a few minutes [against Chelsea].”
City are yet to win a game in pre-season so far this summer having suffered narrow losses to Celtic in Chapel Hill and AC Milan in New York, before Tuesday’s 4-1 penalty shoot-out loss to Barcelona in Orlando after the game finished 2-2 in normal time.
But we have one final chance at victory on Saturday when we take on our Premier League rivals at the Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
We are also set to face the West London side in our first game of the new Premier League, away at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 18 August (kick-off 16:30 UK).
Asked if Saturday’s game in Ohio will help or hinder Guardiola‘s preparations for the Premier League fixture against Enzo Maresca’s side, the City manager said it will have little bearing.
“It is what it is,” the Catalan said. “We have 80 percent of the team not here. So I don’t know which team will be there [for the Premier League fixture].
“When we made the pre-season we didn’t know the calendar of the Premier League. It is what it is. We have to adapt.
“It’s good for the young players to grow up in every game. And every time we play we add minutes to the body so it will be better.
“Normally we come here with 80% of the first team, this time we are here with 20% so it’s a big difference.
“The players deserve their holidays.
“Julian [Alvarez] deserves now to take his time, what he needs to come back clean, not just with the legs, but especially in the head.
“To play every few days in front of 65 or 70 thousand, or 50 thousand people, it is so exhausting. It is a lot of responsibility to do well.
“This demands a lot of energy, not just physicality that’s why they need a break and a holiday. That’s why they are not here. The fans would love it, I would love it but the players need rest.
“This is the biggest difference from the previous time [we have played in the US in pre-season].”
USA TOUR 2024
Our final pre-season clash against Chelsea is available to watch on CITY+ in the following regions:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam
And if purchasing CITY+ via the Man City App on iOS: Albania, Armenia, Cambodia, Georgia, Iceland, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
For fans outside of the countries named, we will have a full explainer article on how to watch each match coming in due course.
To access these matches from one of the locations listed above, you will need an active CITY+ subscription.
CITY+ is available via an annual subscription of £34.99 a year, saving you £24 on our monthly offering.
Choose monthly and pay £4.99 a month with the option to cancel anytime.
Official Cityzens and Season Ticket Members can subscribe annually for £30 a year, a saving of £29.
*Tour matches will not be available to watch on our TV app.
