The old heads and seasoned performers who have seen it all could be left behind at Carrington to prepare for the more meaningful distraction of Sunday's Manchester derby against United.
In an ideal world, Roberto Mancini would prefer to board Manchester City's flight to Dortmund on Monday with a travelling party resembling a collection of starry-eyed teenagers and twenty-somethings on a Club 18-30 holiday.
The old heads and seasoned performers who have seen it all before could be left behind at Carrington to prepare for the more meaningful distraction of Sunday's Manchester derby against United while the kids get their first taste of something more exotic than a Thursday night playing for the reserves at Hyde.
As much as Mancini talks up the need to be focused on salvaging a Europa League place from their failed Champions League group campaign with a victory against German champions Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, the reality is that the trip to the Ruhr is something City could do without United on the horizon.
With injuries and suspension beginning to mount at the Etihad, and the club's Abu Dhabi hierarchy keen to see City in the Europa League mix with the likes of Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid, Mancini has little option but to go for broke against Dortmund.
Everton's determined performance on Saturday, when David Moyes's team emerged with a deserved point, hinted at City's search for their best form this season, but there will be no opportunity for Mancini to rest his jaded players in Germany. "With everybody we have got on the treatment table, we are not going to have much choice," claimed Mancini's assistant, David Platt, after Aleksandar Kolarov (groin) joined James Milner, Gael Clichy, Micah Richards and Jack Rodwell, and the suspended Yaya Toure, on the sidelines after limping off after just six minutes.
"But the fortunate thing is that Dortmund is a Tuesday night game and we have an extra day to recover because the derby isn't until Sunday.Four days is enough to recover. You don't grumble about that, but we haven't got an advantage over United [who play Romanian club Cluj on Wednesday]. At the end of the day, they have already qualified and they can pick any team they want."
Despite Mancini's oft-criticised rotation policy, under which he restored Joleon Lescott and Carlos Tevez to the team against Everton following recent spells on the bench, the Italian appears to have done little to inject freshness into his squad.
The zip and purpose of last season have yet to return, but the counter argument is that City remain unbeaten in the league.
Few teams have tested their jaw this season as firmly as Everton. But in spite of the Merseysiders' noticeable lack of fear against a team that has not lost on home turf in the league since Moyes's players secured a 2-1 win at the Etihad in December 2010 - 37 games ago — City were still able to fight back from a goal behind.
Once again, City's vulnerability in the air led to Joe Hart being beaten for Marouane Fellaini's opener. City equalised when referee Lee Probert awarded a penalty following Fellaini's tug on Edin Dzeko and Tevez beat Tim Howard from the spot.
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