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Pep Guardiola says it's impossible for Manchester City to replace injured Benjamin Mendy

Benjamin Mendy was substituted after just 29 minutes against Crystal Palace
Image: Benjamin Mendy is out until April with a knee injury

Pep Guardiola says it will be impossible to replace what Benjamin Mendy brings to the Manchester City side.

The French left-back ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament during the first-half of Saturday's 5-0 Premier League victory at home to Crystal Palace and will be out of action until April.

After tests in Manchester at the start of the week, the 23-year-old travelled to Barcelona to see a specialist doctor and further examinations of the knee on Thursday confirmed the extent of the injury.

Guardiola is fully aware of the impact Mendy's absence will have on his team, and says they will have to adjust their tactics to accommodate it.

"In the way he plays, the amount of times he goes up and down the sides, there is no replacement, we have to play in a different way," he said.

"Every player has his own qualities but there is no replacement in the world for the energy Benjamin has on the pitch.

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Pep Guardiola says it will be impossible to replace what Benjamin Mendy brings to the Manchester City side

"We have qualities in the other ones so we have to find the right balance."

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Guardiola also lost Sergio Aguero to injury this week, with the Argentine striker ruled out of Saturday's game at Chelsea after suffering a broken rib in a car crash in Amsterdam on Thursday night.

The accident happened as Aguero was making his way to the airport to catch a flight back to Manchester after a day off.

The City manager says it is a mark of big clubs that they can accommodate such losses.

Benjamin Mendy
Image: Manchester City paid Monaco £52m for Mendy in the summer transfer window

"I was with two amazing clubs in my life, as a player and as a manager, and at both of those we had to overcome situations," he said.

"If we start complaining we'll never reach the step we want to get to. We are a strong team when we have those players but there are no complaints.

"We have to overcome these situations if we want to become the team that people know it doesn't matter what happens to them.

"For big clubs it is all about how you react to these situations."

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