Pep Guardiola explains why Riyad Mahrez missed out the game against Liverpool

Pep Guardiola has revealed that he decided to leave Riyad Mahrez out of Manchester City’s Community Shield squad due to concerns he would fail a drugs test. City won the Community Shield on penalties after edging Liverpool in a game at Wembley. Mahrez had taken medication during his time on international duty and the club’s medical staff were unable to determine the ingredients of the medication. “Riyad called me straight after being champion and said he wants to be back against Liverpool," said Guardiola after the victory. “I said he was more than welcome. But Riyad took some medicine just a little bit, but we don't know what he took and therefore doping control today was a risk because the doctors did not know what was in the medicine. “So that's why he did not play today. He could have played some minutes, but we could not take a risk because the doctors didn't have the medicines. Hopefully, at West Ham, he will be fine.”

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