LONDON: Pep Guardiola has revealed Kevin De Bruyne will miss Manchester City鈥檚 FA Cup quarter-final against Newcastle as the Belgium midfielder battles to return from injury for the final weeks of his side鈥檚 treble chase.
De Bruyne has been left out of Belgium鈥檚 squad for their forthcoming friendlies against the Republic of Ireland and England because of a groin strain.
Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco claimed De Bruyne has been struggling with the problem for the 鈥渓ast few matches.鈥�
City boss Guardiola said the 32-year-old felt the injury before he was substituted in the second half of last weekend鈥檚 1-1 draw at Liverpool in the Premier League.
De Bruyne had already missed a large chunk of the season after aggravating a hamstring injury in City鈥檚 league opener at Burnley in August.
He will be sidelined for Newcastle鈥檚 visit to the Etihad Stadium and Guardiola could not confirm if he would be available for the crucial showdown with Premier League leaders Arsenal on March 31.
鈥淗e already played in Anfield with some problems. But he is getting better. He is not ready for tomorrow,鈥� Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
鈥淲e spoke with the manager of Belgium and he decided. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 grateful because he didn鈥檛 feel good. Hopefully now he can recover for the last part of the season.
鈥淎ll the players today in modern football, they are not clean (healthy). Always they have problems. The day after the game he didn鈥檛 feel good, so it鈥檚 better to take a step back.鈥�
De Bruyne is not Guardiola鈥檚 only injury concern as Brazil goalkeeper Ederson will also miss the Newcastle game.
Ederson came off against Liverpool with a muscle injury and Stefan Ortega will deputise against Newcastle.
Guardiola is hopeful Ederson can recover to face Arsenal, who sit one point ahead of third placed City in a gripping title race.
鈥淓derson is getting better, hopefully he will be ready after the international break,鈥� he said.
If City beat Newcastle this weekend, they will remain in contention to win a second successive Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble.
In the Champions League quarter-final draw on Friday, they were once again pitted against Real Madrid after beating the Spanish giants in the semifinals last year and losing at the same stage in 2022.
鈥淚t looks likes a little bit of tradition, three years in a row playing the king of the competition, who have won 14 Champions Leagues,鈥� Guardiola said.
鈥淚t is what it is. Hopefully we can arrive in a good moment. It鈥檚 still a few weeks before the first game in Madrid. We will see.鈥�
On City鈥檚 treble hopes, Guardiola added: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think about that right now. In the last month of the season I will let you know.
鈥淣ow is a quarter-final against a top team in the FA Cup. Then we have the international break, we recover and play another final against Arsenal.鈥�