Pep Guardiola confirms MORE Covid cases in squad ahead of Chelsea clash after 21 sent into isolation before Swindon win

PEP GUARDIOLA confirmed Manchester City have been hit by some fresh Covid cases ahead of their top of the table clash with Chelsea tomorrow.

The champions had to send 21 members of the first team bubble – including seven first team players – into isolation before last week’s FA Cup tie at Swindon.



Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed there are more Covid-19 cases at the club

Many of them – including Guardiola himself – are now back at the Etihad Campus but others have since tested positive.

City are not giving out figures or numbers ahead of the visit of Thomas Tuchel’s side but at least their manager was back on Thursday after nine days at home.

Guardiola said: “Me? I’m very good thank you.

“We have some new cases, yeah. They want privacy so I cannot tell you. .

“Some people are coming back, some are positive again, so when you tested once or twice negative you come back.

“Otherwise you stay home isolated so it’s like what’s happened in the last two or three months like in all the clubs.”

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Both Tuchel and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk have suggested City have got off lightly with Covid – claiming it partly explains their huge lead at the top.

But Pep said: “We had a lot of cases and injuries. We played Aston Villa with 11 players in the first team, so the last few games we had four or five academy players on the bench.

“We are in the same situation as all other clubs. In terms of covid we’ve had it like all clubs, because it’s all around the world.

“It’s not like we are not wiser than others, or because we do the protocols better than the other ones.

“The virus comes to the bubble and everyone suffers, so it is not an exception.”

Guardiola admitted the virus sweeping through has meant he never knows which players he might lose at the last minute.

He said: “What we learn all of us before is that we try to plan what might happen in the next two or three days.

“What we learn in this situation is that we take decisions day by day, the day of the training sessions.

“I would say two hours before the training session or four or five hours before the game because today we are ok but in a few hours we might have four or five positives.

“That is why we have to adapt, adjust, and what work out what we have to do.

“The rest, the points we’ve got so far is down to the quality of the players, this is the main reason why.”


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