The top priority for Pep Guardiola in Barcelona on Wednesday night will be to get through Manchester City's charity friendly with no new injury concerns. The second priority, will be to get a look at some fringe players and youngsters who may only have one other opportunity to play before the World Cup, so for that reason it could be a very useful trip to Catalonia.
Wherever possible, Guardiola should rest his regular first-team players, with his two full-backs the obvious choices to give a night off. Before Sergio Gomez's signing last week, Joao Cancelo was the only left-back option in the squad, leaving Kyle Walker as the only right-back.
Gomez could make his debut at Barcelona to give Cancelo a breather, while Walker should be rested, too. That will give Guardiola a real chance to see whether the cover options he has are good enough with a week left of the transfer window.
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Guardiola has talked up Josh Wilson-Esbrand and Rico Lewis of the academy since the start of pre-season, with both impressing in the two pre-season tour games - particularly Wilson-Esbrand - and Lewis making his Premier League debut last week. The manager has named Wilson-Esbrand as a suitable cover option at left-back, alongside Nathan Ake, with Lewis similarly earmarked for a supporting role on the right, perhaps with John Stones offering cover there too.
Maybe a game like this friendly vs Barcelona is the perfect opportunity to see if the young duo are capable of holding their own against a quality opponent. Barcelona are nowhere near what they used to be, yet they are still a Champions League club and would probably be a top half Premier League side. They have quality attackers like Ferran Torres and Ousmane Dembele, so it would be far from easy for Lewis and Wilson-Esbrand if they played.
Both, however, looked solid against Bayern Munich in the last friendly, so Guardiola can see how much they have learned over the last eight weeks of training, and whether they are indeed going to be good enough to slot in if required at some stage this season.
If not, then maybe City will have to reconsider their transfer risk of letting Aleks Zinchenko go and making Gomez their only replacement on the left. City opted not to make a more senior signing at full-back, and it's unlikely the Barcelona game would change that, although there would still be time if there was a drastic chance of thinking.
Even if nobody new arrives as Guardiola says he expects to happen, he should at least get a clearer idea of just how ready his two young full-backs are if they get a decent run-out at the Nou Camp.
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