When Manchester City face Liverpool in April, the result could decide the destination of the Premier League title.
City will understandably want the best possible preparation for that fixture at the Etihad, so the sight of Aleksandar Mitrovic's late header for Serbia on Sunday against Portugal won't have been ideal.
On first inspection, City's title hopes and Serbia's last-gasp winner to secure qualification for the Qatar World Cup have no connection.
However, the result plunges Portugal into the European play-offs to try and secure one of the final three places in Qatar. City trio Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo will all be involved in the two intense fixtures with a semi-final against an unseeded nation and final against the winner of another such semi.
"I cannot find a great explanation for this, words fail me," Bernardo said after the 2-1 defeat.
"It was terrible, we have to do much better because we have a play-off in March and we will do our best to qualify. I apologise to the Portuguese [fans]. With the quality of our players this is hardly admissible."
Bernardo, Cancelo and Dias will be in contention to start their play-off semi-final and potential final at the end of March, less than two weeks before City's clash with Liverpool on April 9.
Liverpool will also have Diogo Jota and Andy Robertson involved in the play-offs, while Aleks Zinchenko could also be involved in the last chance to reach the World Cup from City. City would have preferred for key players like their Portuguese contingent to have a more relaxed international break in March, just before the crucial run-in in the Premier League.
Riyad Mahrez and Zack Steffen will also be involved in final World Cup qualifying matches in March, further complicating Guardiola's preparations.
With a fixture with Burnley coming up immediately after the break, City can manage any players who have had an extra workload with their countries, but that means Guardiola's options could be restricted as he attempts to ensure he has the freshest possible squad to face rivals Liverpool.
It shouldn't be any different to previous fitness issues arising from international breaks before and after important domestic fixtures, but City would have preferred a team like Portugal with three key players to have a more relaxing set of international games just before the most important period of the season.
But it wouldn't be City if it was that straightforward.
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