Guardiola Makes Funny Description of De Bruyne’s Illness

• Manchester City will be without three players for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie
• The Citizens will travel to Germany for the first match against RB Leipzig
• Pep Guardiola ruled out three players but gave a funny description when quizzed further about one

The 2021 UEFA Champions League finalist Manchester City will begin the chase for another opportunity at winning the UEFA Champions for the first time in their history when they play German opposition later tonight.

The Citizens will travel to Germany to face RB Leipzig in the first leg of their round of 16 encounters, with the second leg coming up two weeks later at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola will be without three of his players for the encounter. Midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne and the defensive duo of Aymeric Laporte and John Stones are all out of the game, as reported by Sun UK.

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Pep makes funny description of KDB's illness

As reported by Goal, Stones is still recovering from a thigh injury, while De Bruyne and Laporte are both suffering from unspecified illnesses.

''Kevin and Laporte [are missing through] illness. They are not ready for tomorrow. It is what it is. During the season, unfortunately, sometimes that happens. He (De Bruyne) didn't feel good right after the game against [Forest]. Yesterday Aymer didn't feel well,'' he said.

Pep was quizzed further on the nature of the Belgian midfielder's illness. He made a funny gesture, having his hand over his throat and making a funny sound to suggest he is suffering from a throat problem, as seen in a video published on Twitter by Hayters TV.

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Ake outlines City's Champions League ambition

Dutch defender Nathan Ake is the player chosen alongside Guardiola for the conference, and he outlined Manchester City's ambitions as quoted by Manchester Evening News.

''Yeah, I think that's been clear. We've been close but we've never got it. I think it's obvious we want to win it[UEFA Champions League]. Every player wants to win it and we'll try our best,'' he said.

Fans spot Guardiola's press conference antics

Pep Guardiola is one of the best tacticians in the world and one of the best behind the microphone when he faces journalists at press conferences.

After Manchester City were charged with over 100 FFP breaches, much of his press conferences were antics to deflect attention away from the real issue, as reported by Sports Brief.

One of such was bringing in Steven Gerrard's slip of 2014, a comment he later apologised for in the follow-up presser, further taking attention away from the issue.