Pep Guardiola challenges Man City players amid Erling Haaland progress - 'Red carpet'

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about Erling Haaland and the team ahead of their Champions League game with Bodo/Glimt

Erling Haaland slept like a baby ahead of Manchester City's arrival in Norway but Pep Guardiola needs his players to wake up to the rough reality standing in their way of trophies this season. The Blues are without 10 players for their Champions League game in Bodo and have had to change their usual preparations to make exceptions for an artificial pitch.

City trained on the pitch on Monday evening rather than having a session back in Manchester as they try to get to grips with how the ball will bounce differently in the Aspmyra Stadium. The team will also have to pick themselves up after a strangely poor performance in the Manchester derby that saw their unbeaten run of 13 games in all competitions ended emphatically.

With so many absences, all the players who are available will have to lift themselves again and there is a particular interest in Norway in Haaland's fatigue given he is expected to be their talisman for the World Cup in summer. Guardiola revealed that the No.9 had told him that 'he slept unbelievably, so he's fit.'

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Guardiola has spoken a lot recently about his new team needing to grow up in their search for trophies. As damaging as the United defeat was, days earlier they had risen to the occasion at Newcastle to put themselves 90 minutes from the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.

City's manager needs to see how his team performs with different challenges thrown their way and Tuesday's game in freezing conditions on an artificial pitch is one of those. If they are to develop the winning traits of previous City teams, it is a challenge they will have to shrug off.

"We have to see how the ball bounces, how the short passes and long passes," said Guardiola. "Life is never a red carpet. How quick you adapt to uncomfortable situations you are closer to success. If I start to cry for that situation, we don't achieve what we did in the past. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and say what do we have to do, not denying that there are things you cannot control."