Antoine Semenyo has been left out of Manchester City's squad for their FA Cup semi-final clash against Southampton at Wembley on Saturday. The forward, who joined City from Bournemouth in a £64 million deal during the January transfer window, misses out on a domestic match for the first time since his arrival.
Guardiola Rings the Changes
Pep Guardiola made eight alterations to his starting line-up following the team's 1-0 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday night. Only Rayan Cherki, Matheus Nunes, and Rayan Ait-Nouri retained their places in the side for the semi-final. The manager cited concerns over his squad's energy levels due to a congested fixture schedule as the reason for the wholesale changes.
Key players such as Erling Haaland, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marc Guehi, and Bernardo Silva were named among the substitutes. Semenyo, however, was not included in the matchday squad at all.
Guardiola's Explanation
Speaking to the BBC before kick-off, Guardiola explained his decision: 'I have a lot of experience, at this stage when you play every three days, travelling. I felt an incredible loss of energy, mentally fatigued. The selection is top, the players are top. It's just I want to bring the energy we need to sustain our game as high as possible.'
In a separate interview with TNT Sports, Guardiola elaborated further: 'It's not a gift, I told them it's not because I want to make a turnover at this stage of the season, it's just in the past when you play a run of three games, Arsenal, so demanding, three days later, so demanding, and travel to London, we need energy. We need rhythm, sometimes we play semi-final, Champions League quarter-finals, coming here, we're so flat. If it works it will be a good decision, if not [it won't be].'
Confirmed Line-Ups
Manchester City: Trafford, Nunes, Stones, Ake, Ait-Nouri, Nico, Kovacic, Reijnders, Cherki, Foden, Marmoush. Subs: Donnarumma, Haaland, Doku, Guehi, Silva, Savinho, O'Reilly, Khusanov, Lewis.
Southampton: Peretz, Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Welington, Jander, Bragg, Fellows, Azaz, Scienza, Stewart. Subs: Long, Quarshie, Jelert, Charles, Matsuki, Robinson, Edozie, Archer, Larin.
