Pep Guardiola has revealed Claudio Echeverri will be out for at least a fortnight after injuring his ankle in the 6-0 win over Al Ain.
The young Argentine forward scored a superb free-kick against the UAE side, but seems unlikely to feature again at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Asked how the 19-year-old was progressing after coming off injured in our last game, the boss said: “No. He has some problems with his ankle. It will be two or three weeks out unfortunately, I feel so sorry for him, for all of us.
“We’re going to play new players in the next game too, yeah. And in the second half too, I make the selection tomorrow, the line-up, thinking of the second half.
“With these conditions we’re not ready to play in the rhythm we’re playing for 90 minutes. Hopefully we can make more substitutions but it’s fine.”
Guardiola was also asked if Rodri was ready to make his first start since injuring his ACL against Arsenal last season.
The boss said the Ballon d’Or winner is likely to feature, but later in the game rather than from the start due in part to the sweltering conditions in Orlando.
“The heat is obvious; we can’t change it,” he said.
“It’s better to play in the other stadium we played in [Mercedes-Benz] - that was fantastic, but I think all the teams have to handle it.
“It is what it is, with the next World Cup people know it already. We have to be ready to suffer and Rodri, yeah he can play, of course not for 90 minutes but the last 30 or 35 minutes.
“He’s been making a step forward in the last three or four days. He didn’t have some problems and niggles, you sometimes have. We’re happy we could add minutes to him.
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“Everyone’s complaining about the weather, but it is what it is.
“It’s hot and the humidity is difficult for everyone, that’s why the speed, for example our rhythm in the last game was higher than the first game, because it was so hot at 12pm. It was so hard, I would say it depends on that.”
One South American journalist also asked if the new season could be Ederson’s last for the Club.
Pep replied: “I don’t know. All I can say is I’m so pleased and delighted with what I see in training and am so delighted Eddie is still with us.
“We can’t define what we have done in this incredible, spectacular decade all together without him and his contribution has been massive in many aspects. I’m really pleased.”
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