Pep Guardiola played down the idea of resting Manchester City players in their upcoming Champions League fixtures as he looks to send a message to the players about the standards he expects.
The Blues have sailed through the group stages in Europe with two games to spare after four straight wins and last week the manager took advantage of more players returning from injury to leave Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker at home for the Olympiacos trip.
However, the players have struggled for goals and points domestically; they have only won four of nine Premier League games and were on their lowest scoring run since 2006 before the 5-0 thumping of Burnley.
Guardiola has used the improving injury situation in the squad to try to drum up competition between the players and reiterated that point several times in his press conference on Saturday after leaving Aymeric Laporte, Aleks Zinchenko and Nathan Ake out of his matchday squad for the convincing home win.
Asked about the upcoming trip to Porto, City's coach stressed that nobody in the squad should take it as a good sign if they are not in the starting XI for what is effectively a dead rubber.
"It’s not about rest here," he said. "I saw Kevin a little bit exhausted mentally, that’s true. But right now I see the players who are in the better conditions or more focused.
"If the players think they have been rested because I am rotating, they have made a big mistake. Every game I pick the best players, sometimes for the benefit of the team, sometimes because of injuries, but especially the players who play well.
"Any players who believe they deserve to start because they have been here for three or four years, they have a big mistake. Every player from the youngest in Phil Foden to the most experienced in Fernandinho deserves the same treatment and opportunities.
"It doesn't matter if you win a lot of titles in the past or you score a lot of goals - you have to show it on the patch, in the recent past, in the present and especially in the future."
