Pep Guardiola made a triple change at half-time against Norwich to give more players the opportunity to impress as he continues to prepare for the Real Madrid game.
Manchester City's final Premier League fixture of the season was still competitive, and the milestones clocked up by Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Ederson during it will stand.
However, the lack of importance given to the match was signalled earlier in the week when the manager chose to give his players a few days off - something he said he may not have done had there been more riding on the game. And the friendly feeling was added to when Guardiola made a triple substitution at half-time, with Riyad Mahrez, Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan coming on for Phil Foden, Eric Garcia and Rodri.
The coach confirmed after the game that none of the players brought off at the break were carrying an injury, with the decisions instead taken as planned to allow more players minutes ahead of the Champions League encounter.
"Unfortunately I could not give more minutes to the other ones. I thought before the game to give 45 minutes for these players and 45 for the other one.
"We have two weeks now. Tomorrow we have regeneration and after that we’ll prepare for the game, to try to be in a good game and that’s all. We’ll arrive in the best conditions and that’s what we try to do."
