In a season where Manchester City is involved in one of the tightest Premier League title races in recent memory, another obstacle is creeping up on Pep Guardiola’s side. The champions are also still in contention for the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League this season. They will face a packed schedule while they battle on three fronts for silverware this campaign. The hectic fixture list is another obstacle in the way of City’s chase for history this season.
Speaking in the embargoed section of his pre-game press conference, Pep Guardiola highlighted the absurdity of City’s schedule. In the clip below, which was shared by Hayters TV the City manager pointed out just how hectic Manchester City’s upcoming fixture list is.
“Coventry, Chelsea & United don’t play UCL!” 👀
“Chelsea will not come here. We will travel five hours to London” 😬
“Spain, Portugal, France help their teams in Europe but not England? 😡
Pep SLAMS the scheduling of @ManCity’s upcoming fixtures 😤
🔗 https://t.co/Lizt4SrdoH pic.twitter.com/WHTNDBhoyB
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) March 30, 2024
Guardiola also went into detail about his team’s upcoming fixtures. After Arsenal Manchester City face Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, and Real Madrid all in a short period of time. The City boss told the media: “So we play Aston Villa at 20:15, playing 12:30 (against Crystal Palace) Saturday, 12:30! And after we go to Madrid on Tuesday, Madrid have nine days to prepare our game, nine days!”
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The City manager further explained:”Playing this weekend, until our game, no plays. And I would like to think, ‘Oh give me one more day’, because one more day the difference is a lot. But there’s no chance. That’s why you ask me about the calendar? I give my opinion, forget about it. UEFA has it’s own business, FIFA has it’s own business, and broadcasters have it’s own business. But I have my own business, and I defend my club. And my club is really tough; three days, three days, three days, three days, when the other clubs don’t have that situation. So when we’ve done it in the past, but the calendar has been always like that with us, always! Always they give us less days to recover, and we did it! We did it, but that is only when you have the whole squad. Unfortunately, in the next days and weeks, it cannot happen.”
On top of battling it out with Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League, Manchester City must also face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final and Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Each opponent is a tricky fixture for the world champions before a hectic schedule is factored in. It is a mountain that Manchester City scaled last season, and if they can repeat the feat this campaign, it will be a remarkable achievement.
But Pep Guardiola and his players aren’t robots. While their achievements over previous seasons are remarkable, they do come at a physical cost. At times this season, the Manchester City squad has appeared fatigued. The amount of football played by the treble winners both domestically and internationally means their workload is higher than most of their rivals. Given this fact, it is a remarkable feat to see Manchester City in contention again to defend the treble they won last season.
The fixture list faced by Pep Guardiola’s side is another obstacle in their chase for history this season. If they can overcome that and the formidable opponents in their way on their chase for history this season, it may well be their finest achievement in an era full of unparalleled achievements by Manchester City.
