How every single Manchester City player performed on international duty in March 2024

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City first-team squad have completed their final international duties of the ongoing 2023/24 season, as the campaign enters it’s all important business phase.

March presented many of Manchester City’s players with their final opportunities to impress international coaches while representing their countries, as a summer of competitions await many of Guardiola’s side.

The European Championships in Germany offers many of the City contingent their first shot of silverware with their respective nations, and those unable to offer their capabilities over the last fortnight will be hoping for a strong end to the season.

The international break came and went with injury concern however, as Pep Guardiola was left sweating over a number of his players’ fitness heading into the weekend’s return of domestic football and a clash with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

As the Premier League champions prepare to return to duties this weekend, here is everything you need to know about the most-recent international break!

March 2024, International break round-up

We start with Manchester City’s European contingent, and having already secured a place at the 2024 European Championships, Spain played international friendlies against Colombia and Brazil.

Those contests featured Manchester City’s defensive midfield mainstay Rodri, and saw him unused from the substitutes bench in a 0-1 defeat to Colombia, before scoring twice from the penalty spot in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Brazil at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu.

Heading over to events concerning City’s Norwegian duo, Erling Haaland and Oscar Bobb featured in two friendlies against Czech Republic and Slovakia. A 1-2 defeat in the former included a goal for Bobb, while Haaland unfortunately failed to convert from the penalty spot in a 1-1 draw against the latter opposition.

Haaland did sustain a slight scare in Norway’s opening training session, as video footage showcased the Manchester City man limping around the training surface. The problem proved to be just a scare, and he continued with the remainder of his duties without any issues.

It was two contrasting results for Nathan Aké and the Netherlands, as the Manchester City full-back featured in friendlies against Scotland and Germany. A dominant 4-0 win in their first outing was followed up by a 2-1 defeat against the Germans.

Manchester City’s largest group of representatives came through Gareth Southgate’s latest England selection in friendly matches against Brazil and Belgium, unfortunately failing to win either match under the Wembley Stadium arch.

Kyle Walker began as captain in a 0-1 defeat to Brazil, whilst there were also starts for John Stones and Phil Foden. The man with the armband was withdrawn inside the opening 20 minutes with a suspected hamstring problem that will rule him out of action this weekend.

Rico Lewis received a promotion from England’s under-21s into the senior side as a result of Walker’s withdrawal through injury, having completed 83 minutes for the youth side in a 1-5 win over Azerbaijan’s under-21s in U21 EURO qualifying.

Lewis would play no part in England’s second senior friendly against Belgium as a 2-2 draw courtesy of a late Jude Bellingham equaliser was played out. The main headline from a Manchester City perspective was a muscular problem sustained by John Stones inside 10 minutes, forcing him to miss the weekend’s clash against Arsenal alongside teammate Walker.

Jérémy Doku featured in the same contest as well as an outing against Ireland – a fixture that ended in a 0-0 draw, with the Manchester City winger only completing 45 minutes in the first of two friendlies and 90 minutes against English opposition.

It was silverware for Joško Gvardiol and Mateo Kovačić with Croatia as they took part in a friendly tournament hosted in Egypt, defeating Tunisia on penalties and the aforementioned ‘hosts’ in the ‘final’. City’s duo featured in both matches.

Manuel Akanji only completed one of Switzerland’s two friendlies in a 0-0 draw against Denmark, before a ‘knock’ forced a withdrawal from duties against Ireland and an early return to Manchester City’s training facility.

There was understanding for City’s vital fixture list over in the Portugal international set-up as Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva – who registered an assist – featured in a 5-2 win over Sweden before withdrawing for additional rest and recovery, whilst Roberto Martinez integrated eight new players into his squad at the halfway point in their matches.

Matheus Nunes scored in Portugal’s opening win before sustaining a knock on the training ground that meant he would play no part in an eventual 2-0 defeat to Slovenia prior to his Manchester City return.

Heading over to Manchester City’s South American World Champions and Julián Álvarez participated in Argentina’s friendly match against Costa Rica. The City forward was an unused substitute in a 3-0 win over El Salvador.

As for the rest of the Manchester City squad, Scott Carson, Stefan Ortega, and Sergio Gómez were not selected for international duty, while Ederson, Jack Grealish, and Kevin De Bruyne did not travel as they were still recovering from injury.