Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is hoping all his players have productive international breaks, but come back to the Etihad Stadium unscathed.
There were some worries earlier this week when Erling Haaland appeared to pull up in training. But the striker later insisted he was fine.
Then last night at Wembley as England took on Brazil, Kyle Walker was forced off in the early stages with what looked to be a hamstring problem.
Pep Guardiola and many City fans will hope it’s nothing too serious but for the moment, it is a worry.
The manager will simply want his players to get through this latest international break, and perhaps just play a little bit of football just to keep things ticking over.
A couple of other City players were also in action last night, and Josko Gvardiol has been praised for his performance for Croatia…
Manchester City star Josko Gvardiol praised by Croatian media after ‘serious’ performance against Tunisia
As England locked horns with Brazil at Wembley, Croatia were taking on Tunisia in a friendly at the Cairo International Stadium in Egypt.
Gvardiol started for his country, with Croatia going on to win on penalties after a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes.
Gvardiol enjoyed a good performance at the back, playing in the middle which is something he hasn’t really done yet for City since his move last summer.
In his 90 minutes, he completed 73/80 passes (91%) completion rate (via Sofascore), and made two interceptions, one clearance and one block.
One Croatian media outlet Sportske Novosti were left quite impressed by the 22-year-old’s performance. They gave him a 7/10 for his display, which was the joint-highest rating for all of Croatia’s players, along with Luka Modric.
They said that he was ‘very good, serious and concentrated’. The publication did note that he had a really good chance to score but did not take it.
Mateo Kovacic also played in last night’s game. He played for 68 minutes, and was rated 6.5 by Sportske Novosti.
A useful exercise for Gvardiol
It is good to hear that Gvardiol – whom Paul Dickov believes is now finding his feet at the Etihad – impressed for Croatia, and in his natural position.
Who knows if Pep has plans to use £200,000-a-week Gvardiol centrally any time soon for City, but outings like this may just make the manager think.
He has not yet nailed down his place in the City team, with competition for minutes very strong. Nathan Ake is a solid performer for City and it’s a real battle for Gvardiol.
It was important for him to get some good minutes under his belt last night, and he seemed to really impress which is good news for City with the business end of the season approaching.