Manchester City have jetted out to Abu Dhabi for a winter training camp in an attempt to recharge their batteries ahead of the second half of the season.
The Premier League champions, who were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal on Sunday, will take on Bundesliga outfit Hamburg in a glamour friendly on Wednesday - before returning in time for their fourth round FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough at the weekend.
James Milner, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna hit the beach to play football with local residents on a sandy small-sided pitch.
The Manchester City quartet also showed off their cooking skills by helping a chef cook a variety of different food products on a barbecue.
Milner, Zabaleta and Clichy, who all featured in City's disappointing display against Arsenal, appeared to be in high spirits despite their recent defeat.
City have the chance of closing the five-point gap on league leaders Chelsea when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face their rivals on January 31.
Boss Manuel Pellegrini has labelled the upcoming match in west London 'a very important game'.
Speaking after Sunday's defeat, Pellegrini said: ‘The game we must play at Stamford Bridge is a very important game.
‘We must close the gap to two points. I hope we are going to recover and play the way we are playing so far. With the ball we didn’t have clear ideas.
‘Chelsea will be a very decisive game. We will try to win that game to close that gap again.
‘We didn’t play a good game. We ran a lot and had a lot of possession but we didn’t have creative ideas to try and find the space against a team that defend very well.’
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