Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is in the middle of a suspension from the touchline after cumulative yellow cards
Guardiola also picked up a yellow card in the Carabao Cup semi-final
Guardiola also picked up a yellow card in the Carabao Cup semi-final(Image: Getty Images)
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Pep Guardiola will keep his place in the Manchester City dugout for the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal despite being in the middle of a two-game ban. The Blues boss was given a suspension earlier this month after picking up his sixth yellow card of the campaign.
City's manager has already served a one-match ban after picking up his first three, sitting out the FA Cup win over Exeter in January. And further losses of discipline have forced him to miss a second and third game of the campaign.
The first of those came at West Ham in the Premier League last Saturday, with Guardiola communicating from the stands as No.2 Pep Lijnders took charge on the touchline as he had done at Exeter. However, the City boss was back to his normal spot for the Champions League game with Real Madrid in midweek and will also be able to operate as usual for the League Cup final at Wembley.
That is because the disciplinary rules only apply to Premier League and FA Cup games, with separate regulations applying in the Carabao Cup and Champions League. Guardiola will therefore serve the second match of his latest suspension in the FA Cup quarter-final against Liverpool at the beginning of April.
City and Arsenal go head to head to decide the first trophy of the season with both teams also gunning for another two domestically. Mikel Arteta's team hold a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League having played a game more, and travel to Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup.
Arsenal are also through to the Champions League quarter-finals as their dream of a Quadruple lives on, having defeated Leverkusen in the last-16. City's own hopes were ended this week at home to Real Madrid after they were unable to overturn a 3-0 deficit from the first leg, losing 2-1 at the Etihad and bowing out 5-1 on aggregate.