Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has on Sunday made clear his frustration with the fixture schedule leading into his side’s upcoming meeting with La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
City and Real are of course primed to lock horns in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie between the clubs in a little over a week’s time.
The latter’s final outing ahead of the clash will actually come later tonight, in a La Liga matchup with Athletic Club.
Premier League champions City, on the other hand, will need to see out two further fixtures, following their crunch title showdown with Arsenal this evening.
The Sky Blues will go head to head with high-flying Aston Villa on Wednesday, before making the trip to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace next Saturday.
With the opener in their tie with Real also set to play out in Spain, it is safe to say that Pep Guardiola’s troops will be at an altogether significant disadvantage when it comes to rest.
And this was a message which the Spaniard himself was eager to make clear this weekend.
Speaking to the media in the buildup to his side’s meeting with Arsenal, Guardiola did not hold back, in hitting out at the schedule makers in England:
“We play Aston Villa at 20:15, then 12:30 vs Crystal Palace Saturday, 12:30! After, we go to Madrid on Tuesday. Madrid have nine days to prepare, nine days!. I’d like to think: ‘Oh give me one more day, because the difference is a lot.’ No chance…”
Conor Laird | GSFN
