Pep Guardiola says that Eric Garcia is more than ready to return to the Manchester City starting XI for tonight's match against Liverpool.
Garcia started City's first game back in action after the coronavirus-induced break against Arsenal on June 17 and played well but had to be substituted late on after a sickening collision with his own goalkeeper Ederson.
The Spaniard received 10 minutes of treatment before being stretchered off and taken to hospital, where he spent the night before being discharged the following morning.
Garcia then had to spend 10 days recovering due to the Premier League's concussion protocols and has missed the last thee games but Guardiola has revealed that he would have been fine to return after just four or five days and has no concerns at all about him starting against the champions.
"No, he was okay after four or five days," Guardiola told Sky Sports when asked if Garcia had come back to action quicker than he expected. "But the protocol said it had to be 10 days off and he was training the last four or five days good, so we decide to play him."
When the fixture list was released last year many expected tonight's game to be a title decider but things haven't gone as City would have liked and Liverpool have already been crowned as Premier League champions.
Although the match is now a dead rubber, Guardiola wants his team to use it as a way to prepare for their vital upcoming games in the FA Cup and Champions League - but doesn't think the result will have any impact on next season's title race.
"No spectators, that is the most special thing still," the Blues boss added when asked if the circumstances of the match were strange.
"We're playing against the champions so we need two victories and one draw to qualify for the Champions League next season and a real game against a real good opponent to see how is our moment for the semi-finals against Arsenal and game against Madrid.
"I think football life changes week by week so of course we want to do a good performance against this team but next season will be a new season, new targets in the Premier League, we have a champion. There are five, six teams [who can] qualify for the Champions League next season."
