LISBON, Portugal (AFP) — Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will struggle to overcome a mounting injury crisis but encouraged the English champions to bounce back in Tuesday’s Champions League trip to Sporting Lisbon.

City travel to Portugal after consecutive defeats to Tottenham in the League Cup and Bournemouth on Saturday, which ended an 11-month unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who is out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, leads a stellar cast of absentees in Guardiola’s squad that also includes Oscar Bobb, Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish and John Stones.

Kevin De Bruyne could make his first appearance in seven weeks but is unlikely to start, while Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Jeremy Doku and Savinho are also not fully fit.

“You know the situation with Rodri, nominated the best player in the world,” said Guardiola at his pre-match press conference on Monday.

“We know we will struggle, and we have to accept that, and it is fine.

“The games will be difficult; in previous seasons it was smooth. Personal reasons, injuries, we won six Premier Leagues in seven years. Things change, we have to accept that.”

Guardiola will come against one of his future rivals as Sporting boss Ruben Amorim takes charge of the Portuguese champions for the penultimate time before beginning his role as Manchester United manager.

The sides last met in the last 16 of the 2021-22 Champions League when City romped to a 5-0 victory in Lisbon and on aggregate.

“They have changed players but have [the] same manager and same mentality,” added Guardiola on the challenge Sporting provide.

“Winning the league for first time in 20 years and then doing it again last season shows what a good job he has done.”

Bernardo Silva scored twice in City’s 5-0 win over Sporting two years ago on his return to Lisbon, where he began his career at Benfica.

He urged City not to make excuses despite their injury woes.

“With a full squad we are stronger, there’s no denying that. We have a lot of unbelievable players missing,” said Silva.

“We have not been able to count on Kevin for six weeks. Rodri is out for the season, and other players out shorter times. But we never find excuses. This club was never about that.”

Both sides are unbeaten in the new Champions League format, with seven points from their opening three matches.

Tuesday’s games:

PSV Eindhoven v Girona @ 12:45 pm

Slovan Bratislava v Dinamo Zagreb @ 12:45 pm

Bologna v Monaco @ 3:00 pm

Dortmund v Sturm Graz @ 3:00 pm

Celtic v RB Leipzig @ 3:00 pm

Lille v Juventus @ 3:00 pm

Liverpool v Leverkusen @ 3:00 pm

Real Madrid v Milan @ 3:00 pm

Sporting CP v Man City @ 3:00 pm