Pep Guardiola will start to hold his breath on Thursday night as this week’s international fixtures begin. For most games, Manchester City will just hope their players return injury-free – but they may have a selfish reason to hope that three of their players will suffer defeat in the coming days.
England don’t play until the weekend, as they and other countries have helped City by not selecting Kyle Walker, Gabriel Jesus or Kevin De Bruyne. However, a number of players are still in action, with the United States, Algeria and Portugal still to secure a place for the 2022 World Cup. Ukraine and Aleks Zinchenko can also still qualify, but are naturally not in action this week.
Portugal have perhaps the toughest path to qualification, starting on Thursday night as they host Turkey in the UEFA play-offs for one of the final places in Qatar.
READ ALSO :Man City to subsidize Wembley trip for Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final
Portugal must beat Turkey and then North Macedonia winner against European champions Italy to qualify as a huge nation will be left at home in December.
With Ruben Dias injured, Portugal’s task has been made a bit more difficult, but they still have Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo to play key roles in two crucial games.
City may have preferred two of their most important players to be involved in such intense fixtures this week ahead of their ensuing treble, but Guardiola has always insisted it’s an honor for players to play for their countries and to represent them at the biggest tournaments. The fact that 13 City players have already booked a place in the tournament is a brilliant reflection of the club, with six more potentially joining them.
Ultimately, the better players do for their nation, the happier they are and the more City benefits on and off the pitch. All the risks associated with getting hurt are probably worth it, even if they’re impractical. For this reason, City and Guardiola will back Portugal this week in their bid to reach Qatar.
However, if they don’t, it might not be such a bad thing for City, who will miss the majority of their squad for the mid-season World Cup in 2022/23. If three key men like Dias, Cancelo and Bernardo weren’t in Qatar and instead had a few weeks off, it could be a boost in the Premier League title chase for the Blues.
The key to winning the Premier League next season will be to deal with the unique World Cup situation better than anyone. If an advantage can be gained by hitting the ground as soon as the league resumes, it could be the difference between first and second.
Over the past two seasons, City have started slowly because players come home late from holidays or Euro 2020. Next season, this problem could affect them in December and January, rather than August or September, they should so start planning now to minimize disruption.
And any disruption will be reduced if fewer players are at the World Cup, however disappointed they may be.
Sign up for our City newsletter so you never miss an Etihad Stadium update this season.
