Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been banned from the touchline for a domestic match, meaning he will have to watch Leicester from a different view
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Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola
Juanma Lillo will take charge in the Manchester City dugout against Leicester - but Pep Guardiola will still be able to get messages to his players. The Blues boss must serve a touchline ban after picking up his third yellow card of the season in the FA Cup win at Bournemouth.
Guardiola was annoyed at the decision from Bournemouth not to put the ball out in the second half when Erling Haaland was down needing to come off the pitch, and sarcastically applauded the fourth official during his ravings. He was swiftly shown a yellow card, although his team would go on to take the lead a minute later as substitute Omar Marmoush made an instant impact.
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That booking means that Guardiola will not be able to be in the dugout for one domestic match, and comes into place immediately to mean that the manager will have to watch the Leicester game from the stands. Other than that, there will be little noticeable difference to a normal matchday.
The City boss is still allowed to conduct the post and pre-match interviews and press conference that he would normally undertake and he is also granted access to the dressing room to give team talks before the game or at half-time.
Guardiola can even communicate with his staff during the game to pass on any instructions he thinks need to be heard. He will then return to the touchline for the visit to Manchester United at the weekend, where Lillo will be once again by his side.
The Spaniard stepped up to manage the team last season when Guardiola had to miss a few weeks of the campaign after surgery on his back.
City are looking to build back some momentum in the Premier League after just one point from their last two outings. Guardiola's side lost at Forest and could only draw at home to Brighton in their last game before the international break.
Their win over Bournemouth in the FA Cup takes them back to Wembley where they will play Forest in the semi-final, but it is the league where Guardiola says his side need to focus.
They are into the final straight of their race for Champions League qualifications and cannot afford many more slip-ups if they want to be certain of a place in next year's competition.
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