Man City finalise Pep Guardiola backroom staff with two replacements

Manchester City have brought in a second new assistant coach to help Pep Guardiola this season.

The Blues boss was delighted to welcome Juanma Lillo back to the club, who had served for two years at the Etihad in the role before moving to Qatar last year to become a head coach. After leaving that position in summer for personal reasons, Lillo's return was announced ahead of the Community Shield.

City were also able to add another coach last week as Lillo's long-time assistant Inigo Dominguez also joined to give Guardiola a full complement of staff in time for the Premier League opener at Burnley. The manager was seen in regular discussion with Lillo at Turf Moor as the Blues scored early through Erling Haaland and eventually saw off the Championship winners 3-0.

Lillo and Dominguez will effectively replace Enzo Maresca and Rodolfo Borrell, who both left the club this summer after being part of Guardiola's staff last summer. Maresca is now the head coach at relegated Leicester City, while Borrell has moved to MLS to become the sporting direction at Austin.

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Lillo gave City some unofficial help in their Champions League showdowns with Real Madrid and Inter Milan last season and Guardiola is delighted to have him back. "Juanma is the best assistant you can have in the bad moments and you have to find people close to you in the bad moments," he said.

"In the good moments I don't need anyone - just open the champagne to celebrate together. But in the bad moments, Juanma - beyond his knowledge of football - is a massive human being."