Juanma Lillo, Guardiola’s assistant, will serve as his head coach until he heals.

According to the club, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola underwent “emergency surgery” for a back issue and won’t be able to lead the team for another month or so.

Manchester City released a statement on Tuesday stating that the manager had flown to Barcelona for emergency surgery because he had been experiencing severe back discomfort for some time recently.

Pep will now recover and undergo rehabilitation in Barcelona because the operation was successful. He is anticipated to make a comeback during the upcoming international break.

Before the club season is suspended for two weeks of international competition, City has English Premier League fixtures against Fulham and Sheffield United.

On September 16, City will play its first game since their break against West Ham, and the Champions League group stage will start the following week.

Juanma Lillo, Guardiola’s assistant, will take over his responsibilities in the interim.

The 57-year-old joined City from Chinese club Qingdao Huanghai in 2020 and served as Guardiola’s assistant there from 2020 to 2022.

In June 2022, he quit to become a coach at Al-Sadd in Qatar.

Guardiola previously worked under Lillo at Dorados when they were both in Mexico.