Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola fears his yster Kevin de Bruyne could be “out for months” as he looks to add the Uefa Super Cup to his treble haul in Athens against Sevilla on Wednesday night at 9pm.
De Bruyne limped off in City’s 3-0 opening-day Premier League win at new boys Burnley with the same hamstring injury that cut his contribution short in June’s 1-0 Champions League final win over Inter Milan.
And Guardiola, who will also be without injured stars Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, says of De Bruyne’s injury: “He will be out for a few months. We have to decide in the next days on surgery but for sure we lose Kevin for some time.”
Fighting for a new title! #UEFASuperCup 🏆![CDATA[]]>🔜 pic.twitter.com/hVyQMdZmww
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 15, 2023
Ahead of the clash between the Champions League winners City and the Europa League champs Sevilla, Guardiola is wary of opposing coach Jose Luis Mendilibar.
The former Barcelona mentor explains: “He [Mendilibar] turned things around at Sevilla in no time.
“When you see a Mendilibar team play, you can recognise his influence.
“I tip my hat off for what this club has done in this competition – it’s incredible. They know how to perform in European competitions.”
Having won all four previous meetings with the Spanish side, City will have to pasop for striker Youssef En-Nesyri, Argentina ysters Lucas Ocampos, Gonzalo Montiel, Marcos Acuna and Erik Lamela, while goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, Ivan Rakitic and ex-City winger Jesus Navas add to the La Liga team’s squad experience.