Pep Guardiola has explained why Phil Foden is in Manchester City’s squad to face Bayern Munich despite not being fully fit.
Foden has not featured for City for a month after he suffered appendicitis while on international duty with England last month.
The 22-year-old underwent successful surgery to remove his appendix and was ruled out for a period of four to six weeks.
Foden last appeared for City in the 6-0 defeat of Burnley in the FA Cup quarterfinal on March 18, when he provided the assist for Erling Haaland’s second goal.
Foden missed City’s four matches since the international break, including the 4-1 defeat of Liverpool and the 3-0 win against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg.
After Guardiola made positive noised about Foden’s recovery last week, the attacker returned to training on Tuesday before flying to Munich with his teammates.
City will take on Bayern in the second leg of their quarterfinal tie on Wednesday, knowing anything but an unusually heavy defeat will see them reach the semi-final stage for the third year in succession.
Speaking to the media ahead of the match at the Allianz Arena, City boss Guardiola shared his delight at having Foden back in his squad.
“We are delighted! It’s definitely good news for us. He has trained just one training session, but we decided that he will travel with us and be on the bench,” Guardiola explained.
“Of course [he will not play] not 90 minutes [vs Bayern Munich]. But he is a special player, because of his physicality, he doesn’t need many training sessions to be fit.”
Guardiola has always preferred to take each match as it comes, but he admitted that having Foden back gives City a boost for the Premier League title run-in.
“He’s important not just for tomorrow, but for the tight schedule we have ahead of us,” Guardiola said.
City currently trail league leaders Arsenal by four points, although the Blues have a game in-hand. The two title contenders will go head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium next week and Foden will be in contention to feature.
