Pep Guardiola admission could open door for unlikely Man City FA Cup final starters

After Manchester City beat Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid using the same group of starters, their FA Cup and Champions League final starting line-up looked set in stone.

Maybe only Stefan Ortega for the FA Cup would disrupt that group, or Nathan Ake winning his place back at left-back from Manu Akanji. Either way, the front six players, and the centre-back pairing looked decided for City.

Now, though, four of those players are doubts for the FA Cup final next week, and Pep Guardiola said members of his squad are 'mentally exhausted'. He may have to turn to Plan B at Wembley against Manchester United, and then in Istanbul a week later in the Champions League final.

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At Brentford on the final day of the Premier League season, City left Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias and Manu Akanji back in Manchester due to various fitness issues.

"I don’t know right now," said Guardiola of his injured players. "Hopefully [they will be ready] but right now I don’t know."

It was hardly an optimistic outlook that four almost-certain starters could be missing at Wembley for the FA Cup final vs City's closest rivals. And another Guardiola comment suggested tiredness was affecting other important players who had stayed on the bench at Brentford.

John Stones, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland all got a rest ahead of next weekend, and Guardiola said: "The guys who didn’t play here that normally play, they were really exhausted yesterday or the day before."

Assuming those on the bench on Sunday just needed some extra time, they will surely start vs United. The likes of Dias and Grealish, who