Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that striker Erling Haaland will not be fit to feature in Wednesday's final Champions League group game against Sevilla.
City have already secured top spot in the group so Haaland was always likely to be handed a rest anyway, but he has been dealing with what Guardiola described as 'ligament damage' which forced him to miss the recent 1-0 win over Leicester.
Asked whether Haaland would be ready for Wednesday's game, Guardiola simply responded: "No, tomorrow not available."
He continued: "[Haaland] feels better. Comparing to Saturday, Sunday, Monday, every day feels better. Still not 100%, we don't want to take a risk. Hopefully we have him against Fulham."
In Haaland's place, Argentina striker Julian Alvarez will start at the top of City's team sheet. It will be the 22-year-old's sixth start of the season, but the intense competition does not appear to be bothering Alvarez.
"It's a privilege, always great to play alongside the best players in the world," he said when asked about battling with Haaland for minutes. "He's important for us, we're as old as each other but we can both learn from each other. We both want to bring the best for the team.
"We're very different players but people have to adapt to different play and styles when players line up. I like to occupy different positions. At River there were other players who were goalscorers, I'm used to these situations. I trust my ability and other players trust me as well."
Source : 90min