Pep Guardiola bemoans one advantage Real Madrid have over Man City
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admits he must learn to live with the hectic fixture schedule that will see Real Madrid have an extra day’s rest for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.
City head into the return fixture at the Etihad on Wednesday having earned a credible 1-1 draw in Madrid, given to them by Kevin De Bruyne’s sensational strike from outside of the penalty area.
Guardiola’s side are now viewed as favourites against 14-time Champions League winners Real, with their relentless Premier League winning streak continuing at the weekend with a 3-0 triumph over Everton – a victory that now looks likely to have earned City a third consecutive Premier League title.
But with success comes an incredible fixture pile-up, which has been exacerbated this season by the staging of the World Cup in December.
The relentless schedule has long been criticised by Guardiola and he again called into question the timing of City’s Premier League games when probed before the trip to Goodison Park.
“It’s 11 months working for the Premier League, I don’t want to be distracted for (Real) Madrid. I will have time, it’s not much time because we play Sunday. Thank you so much,” Guardiola said.
“I don’t understand it, but I have to adapt,” he continued. I’m not going to fight any more. The schedule is what it is.
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“I’m sure the Premier League wants to help the teams. The problem is the schedule, the number of games there are. I think we cannot play on Saturday because there is Eurovision and there are not enough police to handle two important events at the same time.”
Asked whether or not other leagues help their sides prepare better than the Premier League, Guardiola added: “There are a lot of competitions, there are a lot of games in all the calendars. That’s the problem, I don’t think the problem is La Liga or the Premier League. In Germany or France, they play on Friday and we have to play when they tell us, that’s not going to change.
“Now we have five days after only four days. Tomorrow we will see the team, we will talk to the physios and the coaching staff and we will decide. We have a lot of games to play.”
Los Blancos do need to travel, however, perhaps levelling the playing field as City look to recuperate and recover before Wednesday’s heavyweight clash.
