'We have four players' - Guardiola unimpressed with Man City's hectic post-World Cup schedule

Pep Guardiola has made it clear he is unhappy with Manchester City's schedule after the World Cup.

City beat Girona 2-0 in a friendly on Saturday, with Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland scoring the goals.

The pair were two of four outfield players among City's first-team regulars, along with Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan, to start the game.

Reserve keeper Stefan Ortega and left-back Sergio Gomez also played from the start, but the rest of the squad was made up of academy players.

City face Liverpool in the EFL Cup Round of 16 on Thursday, before facing Leeds United and Everton on December 28 and 31 respectively in the Premier League, and Guardiola has claimed he does not yet have enough players to prepare for the list of festive encounters.

"We have four players - five players," Guardiola told the official City media channel.

"We have to see how they come back [from the World Cup]. We don't have any players. The big brains in football have made this program so we are going to play this game."

City were heavily represented in Qatar, although De Bruyne and Gundogan returned after early departures to Belgium and Germany respectively.

Aymeric Laporte and Rodri were eliminated in the Round of 16 with Spain and will return next week, while England internationals Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, John Stones and Kalvin Phillips, plus Portuguese trio Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva, as well as Dutch defender Nathan Ake, are also expected to join the team soon.

"Some players are coming back now, in the next few days, step by step, we have the people here," Guardiola added.

"People are coming back soon. After that, English and Portuguese players - they are coming back."

Indeed, despite being one of the best teams in world football, City have only one player who will play in the final between Argentina and France on Sunday.

Julian Alvarez was one of the best Argentine players in Qatar, scoring four goals, including two in their semi-final win over Croatia.

"We are all very happy for him," Guardiola said.