Pep Guardiola blames EUROVISION as he once again hits out at the fixture schedule
Pep Guardiola blames EUROVISION as he hits target again – with Man City just two days’ rest between Everton and Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid
- The Catalan manager sarcastically thanked the Premier League for the schedule
- But despite this, Guardiola says he is unlikely to overhaul his starting eleven
- Madrid, on the other hand, are expected to rest most of their first team against Getafe
Pep Guardiola continued to curse the Eurovision Song Contest as Manchester City get just two days of rest ahead of next week’s reunion with Real Madrid.
Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena hosts the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday and Merseyside Police are unable to man both that and City’s crucial Premier League trip to Everton on the same day.
The game against Goodison Park was always scheduled for Sunday, but could not be pushed forward, even as Guardiola’s side progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
“We play on Sunday, thank you very much,” Guardiola said sarcastically. “I don’t understand, but I don’t want to fight for that anymore.
How many times can we comment on that? I don’t understand, but we have to adapt to it, so… it doesn’t matter, I don’t fight the schedules: UEFAs, Premier Leagues and so on.
Pep Guardiola fell out of Manchester City’s messy play list as the season comes to a close
City play Everton on Sunday and the manager questioned whether Liverpool’s host of Eurovision on Saturday had anything to do with the inconvenient timing
There are just three days between the club’s game of the weekend and their Champions League rendezvous with Real Madrid after Kevin De Bruyne’s quality set the tie on Tuesday
“We can’t play on Saturday because of Eurovision and we don’t have enough police to handle two important events at the same time. Okay, we have to adapt. What can I do? We prefer to play on Saturday, so that we can certainly prepare more.
“I’m pretty sure the Premier League wants to help the teams in the Premier League, I don’t think so [purposefully] make it uncomfortable. The problem is the schedule, the number of leagues and matches.
“France and Germany play on Friday, here it is the opposite. The Premier League is more important, the schedule is the schedule. I felt it from day one, it’s not going to change.’
Real play Getafe on Saturday and they are expected to rest their entire favorite starting eleven before traveling to the Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola doesn’t have that luxury as they look to retain their title by battling Arsenal, who the City boss expects to win each of their remaining three league matches.
The Catalan suggested he won’t be making many changes despite the draw with Real, who were tied at 1-1 from the first leg at the Bernabeu.
“In a positive way, we have one more day to recover before the game against Everton, I take it this way,” Guardiola added.
Former player Sergio Aguero had criticized his former manager for not using Julian Alvarez (centre) in Madrid
Riyad Mahrez was another star of form who missed out after Guardiola failed to make any changes
“We will see the team, I will smell [the attitude], we talk to the physios and decide. There are many games to choose from. Maybe people don’t believe me, but I trust them all a lot.
“Every player is ready to play and make their own absolute contribution. Of course there are players that are so, so important to us right now and we’ll see if they can play every three or four days.
“After Leeds last week, people told me ‘I’m tired’ and the game after that was so demanding. If you win the previous game, you win, your mental recovery is better and faster.
“If you think exhausted, you are exhausted and [say] “I can’t do it anymore”, that’s possible. You can. if you desire something and mentally you are in the right position, then human beings can have incredible energy that you didn’t know you had.’
