Pep Guardiola has said he has no chance of beating weekend rivals Manchester United if he repeats the performance that led Manchester City to be eliminated from the EFL Cup.
City started with the likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson as their substitutes for the quarter-final draw at Southampton on Wednesday and paid the price in a 2-0 loss.
Sekou Mara, Moussa Djenepo took advantage of Stefan Ortega’s weak position to beat Kyle Walker diagonally to add a second before half to put the Saints ahead.
De Bruyne was introduced as part of the triple substitution in between, Haaland soon followed, but City failed to score a field goal for the first time this term.
Next up for City is a trip on Saturday to keep United in league form, and Guardiola admits he needs a big improvement for his side at Old Trafford.
“It’s a different competition, but of course we don’t stand a chance if we play like this,” he said at the post-match press conference. “I know the momentum they have.
“They’ve been looking forward to being in this position for years. We know exactly what we’re going to do to play better and we will try to do that.”
When asked about his decision to make Haaland and De Bruyne a second game, Guardiola said: “It would have been different if it had been Erling and Kevin, who knows?
“But when you’re playing for four competitions, it’s important to use every player on the team.”
City have lost within 90 minutes of an EFL Cup tie for only the third time in 30 games under Guardiola, who have won the cup four times in seven seasons.
City’s fourth defeat in 28 games this campaign comes just three days after a spectacular 4-0 win over Chelsea in the third round of the FA Cup.
And Guardiola admits that his team’s two goal comebacks at St Mary’s Stadium cannot be complained about.
“It was a bad night. I know them pretty well. We didn’t come close to the situation we were in,” he said. “Three days after I met Chelsea… I have nothing to say.
“They were better, we congratulate and accept them. We have to be prepared for every game you play for Manchester City. Today we were not.”
City beat United 6-3 when the sides last met in October and are looking to double the Red Devils in a single season for the sixth time in the Premier League.
Ilkay Gundogan, who played the entire 90 minutes against Southampton, hopes the cup defeat will give City some life, which is going to the derby.
“There is no room for mistakes [against United]or any bad performance like today,” he said.
“I hope if there’s one good thing we can take out of this game today, it’s something like a wake-up call at the right time.
“While it’s sad and disappointing to get out of this cup, hopefully in a few weeks we can at least go back and get something good out of this game.”