This is what Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola said about Haaland and De Bruyne

This Tuesday Manchester City played their first game ever in a Club World Cup and did what they had to do. They beat Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 with goals from Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva and advanced to the final of the tournament, where they will face Fluminense of Brazil, the Copa Libertadores champions.

The match will be on Friday and there will not be much time to wait for the recovery of the injured players, but considering the importance of two of them, it may be worth waiting. During Tuesday's game, the TV cameras showed Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne sitting in the stands on several occasions. They are arguably the two best players in the squad, but have been unable to play lately due to physical problems.

The Belgian midfielder suffered a serious injury in the first Premier League game of the season against Burnley. He had to undergo surgery and began a long recovery period that is now coming to an end. The Norwegian striker's situation is less serious: he had an ankle problem two weeks ago, in the defeat against Aston Villa, and since then he has not been able to play.

Coach Pep Guardiola was asked about them at the press conference after the win against Urawa Red Diamonds and explained what the situation is with each of them. “Kevin started training yesterday and will train with us tomorrow but it’s been three months so he cannot play in the final, but he is getting better. Erling still cannot train”, explained the Spanish manager.

What is the plan for the final?

Guardiola then also talked about what he plans to do during the three days Manchester City will have between the semi-final and the final against Fluminense: "In terms of training, no way – we sleep, rest and try to be ready on the day of the game. Of course, we will prepare something the day before the game but we need to rest good”.