Manchester City have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the seventh consecutive season. However, Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, expressed his frustration with the Premier League’s match scheduling during Champions League weeks.
Guardiola had previously voiced his frustration when City had to face Manchester United on Sunday, only three days before their last-16 second leg against Copenhagen in Europe.
He noted that no other country requires its teams to play on a Sunday when they have European matches on Wednesday.
Despite City comfortably defeating the Danish side 3-1, securing a 6-2 aggregate scoreline, Guardiola persisted in expressing discontent about the scheduling post-match.
“Talk to the Premier League? They would say ‘We pay a lot of money, shut up!’”
After beating United 3-1 in the Manchester derby, Guardiola made seven changes to his lineup for the second leg against Copenhagen. He denied that he was saving players for the crucial Premier League match against Liverpool on Sunday, and stressed that he took the Copenhagen game seriously.
“I knew how tired my players were. In some countries when you play on Wednesday they allow you to play on Saturday. I needed fresh legs, people who can sustain a match like this.”
The Champions League quarter-final draw on March 15th will reveal City’s next opponents. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain have already advanced to the next round, while the other four matches will take place next week.
Before they can focus on anything else, Guardiola and the Citizens must face the challenge of playing against Liverpool, the top team in the league, at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.