The Blues advanced to the quarter-finals on Wednesday night after a mundane 90-minute performance at the Etihad Stadium. Gabriel Jesus thought he had handed City the lead just after halftime, but VAR ruled that the Brazilian was offside and the match ended in a goalless stalemate.
However, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, and Raheem Sterling all scored in the Portuguese city last month as Manchester City practically sealed their spot in the competition’s last eight after winning the first leg 5-0.
Late chances to break the deadlock in the 2nd leg were squandered by Raheem Sterling and John Stones, respectively, while Scott Carson made a fantastic save after replacing Ederson midway through the second half.
The Blues had only three senior defenders available for their Champions League match against Sporting on Wednesday, with Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, and Nathan Ake all missing.
Dias is out with a hamstring injury, Walker is eligible because his suspension only applied to European competition, and the team will wait for Ake and Cancelo to return,
Ake has been out since the FA Cup victory over Peterborough last week, but he is set to return to training this week and might be included in the squad for the trip to Selhurst Park to provide an extra option in the center of defense. City will also be hoping that Cancelo will be ready after missing the Champions League encounter due to illness.
“Like you say it is still a few days before Monday night’s game,” said Guardiola when asked for an injury update.
“We have a little bit of a problem because we don’t have many players available.
“Hopefully some come back at the end of the week. Today we trained, the guys celebrated qualifying for the quarter-finals.
“Tomorrow is rest and then we prepare for the game in London.
“Seeing the run Crystal Palace are on right now, one loss in last eight games, the quality they have, especially up front with Zaha, when they defend deep they are difficult to break down.
“Selhurst Park is always a difficult place to go. It’s a final for us and we know it. Hopefully, we can prepare well to face a good opponent.”
Guardiola is aware of how good Palace can be after losing to them earlier in the season, and he is also aware that there is little room for error as Liverpool press at the top of the table.