Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola withdrew from his scheduled Friday press conference due to a “personal matter,” the club confirmed.
The club added that his absence will not affect preparations for Sunday’s Premier League match at Selhurst Park.
City travel to Crystal Palace after their 2-1 Champions League win over Real Madrid on Wednesday. They sit two points behind league leaders Arsenal.
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has a strong record against Guardiola, most notably beating City in last summer’s FA Cup final.
Assistant coach Kolo Touré stood in for Guardiola at the press conference. Touré, who was promoted to the first-team staff last summer, handled the media duties because Pepijn Lijnders, another assistant with more media experience was unavailable due to a scheduled day off.
Friday’s appearance was Touré’s first press conference since joining the senior coaching team. The 44-year-old former City and Arsenal defender began his coaching career under Brendan Rodgers and later worked at Wigan Athletic. He returned to Manchester City in 2024 as assistant to the Under-18 coach before earning promotion.
City will go top of the Premier League if they beat Palace on Sunday — but only if Arsenal fail to defeat bottom-placed Wolves on Saturday night.
