He returned to the airport’s Terminal Three around 35 minutes later, still ahead of the scheduled departure of City’s chartered flight to Dusseldorf, but with rumours abounding about the reason for his temporary disappearance.
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When asked about the mishap in yesterday’s press conference, the Chilean coach said: “It is not important”.
“Manchester City are very good and have outstanding players but it is not an overwhelming opponent”, Schubert told reporters on Tuesday.
Mauricio Pochettino defended the officiating during Tottenham’s 4-1 thrashing of Manchester City on Saturday after the hosts were given two goals that looked to be offside.
However, Pellegrini’s men could also be dealt a blow with Wilfried Bony not seen in the session and neither were defensive duo Eliaquim Mangala and skipper Vincent Kompany.
‘Joe had a problem in is back during the week, and he worked for just one day.
City’s barnstorming start to the English football season, producing five straight wins, is in danger of becoming a fading memory after consecutive defeats by West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur allowed Manchester United to knock them off the top of the table.
In this context Die Fohlen can not be entirely dismissed as 10/3 shots to upset City, not least owing to the fact that Pellegrini’s side have only won four of their last 10 road games in the competition.
But Pellegrini insists that his team are making progress in Europe and that his players have proved their credentials in the competition.
“When we get going in our stadium and the fans get behind us, not many teams can stop us and you saw that today”, he said.
“We qualified in second place, we have beaten Bayern Munich twice“. “They did not start the season as they ended the last one, but they have won their last two games, so we know it will be very hard”.
“Now we are trying in the next five games to qualify for the next stage of Europe”.
One Belgian Pellegrini can call upon is the in-form Kevin de Bruyne – and he aims to show he is still the daddy on his first return to Germany since his £54million switch from Wolfsburg last month.
If they play at their best then something positive might come out for them from this match.
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“Had I stayed in Germany I would have been really happy“, he said. His touch is wonderful, and his desire to command the ball and provide clever, creative passes has brought a new dimension to City’s play.
