City's Aguero, De Bruyne out vs. Chelsea

Manchester City's Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne won't recover in time to face Chelsea on Saturday, manager Pep Guardiola told reporters Friday.

Aguero has missed the past two matches with a muscular issue while De Bruyne remains out with a knee injury.

"No, both cannot play tomorrow," Guardiola said. "Both will be back soon."

City have fared well without the pair, winning all but one match since De Bruyne aggravated his knee in early November. Guardiola has the luxury of a deep squad, allowing the manager to call upon Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez to fill the void.

The reigning champions will now come up against a Chelsea side that's lost two of their past three Premier League contests, including a 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers in midweek action.

Blues manager Maurizio Sarri labeled City the best team in Europe, but Guardiola said his players need to win the Champions League before earning that distinction.

"Thank you but we are not the best," he said. "We have to win the titles and we didn't win the titles to be (the) best team in Europe. Thinking that it's not necessary to improve, that would be the most dangerous thing. We can do better."