Pep Guardiola makes worrying Erling Haaland admission after revealing his star striker is ‘EXHAUSTED’ and in desperate need of a rest

Pep Guardiola admits he won’t be able to give Erling Haaland a rest when Manchester City face Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Guardiola said last week that Haaland is exhausted, and the City striker was below-par in Saturday’s defeat by Manchester United in the Old Trafford derby.

He limped down the tunnel at half-time after having treatment following a challenge from Harry Maguire, and was then substituted in the 80th minute having made little impact on the game.

However, Guardiola is unable to give Haaland a breather until Omar Marmoush is available after the Africa Cup of Nations, and he doesn’t expect the Egypt striker to be on City’s flight to Norway on Monday. New signing Antoine Semenyo is ineligible for the tie.

Haaland is set to lead the attack again as he returns to his homeland, with Guardiola more likely to rest his star striker against Wolves or Galatasaray over the next week when Marmoush can deputise.

Asked if Marmoush will go to Norway, the City boss said: ‘No, I don’t think so. I don’t know when Omar comes and Erling is going to play. We need Erling and we need all of them.

‘Erling is so important for us. We are lucky to have Erling with what he has done.

‘We’ll see what happens next game. We have to travel to Norway and go in there and see how they recover. Not just physically. I can smell how they feel.

‘And after, we continue. We did it last season and we continue this one. We have a lot of important games, every three or four days.’

Guardiola refused to put City’s 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford down to Haaland’s fatigue or the unavailability of Marmoush, adding: ‘Omar is an exceptional player. He’s moving behind, he’s excited.

‘But it would be so poor for me to say that is why we didn’t get results today or the previous night because Omar is not here. It’s not fair for him, not fair for the team, not all the guys who are here day by day and try to do it.’