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Pep Guardiola says he does not “understand” the scheduling of Manchester City’s fixtures — but is beyond fighting against it.
Premier League leaders City face Everton at Goodison Park today, little more than 72 hours before they take on Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Real were in La Liga action against Getafe last night, and, therefore, have an extra day’s rest.
“It is what it is,” said Guardiola.
He said one of the issues that meant their trip to Everton was being played on Sunday was that Liverpool hosted the Eurovision Song Contest yesterday.
The Spaniard added: “In the end, we can’t play on Saturday (yesterday) because of Eurovision or something like that in Liverpool, and we don’t have enough bodies to handle two important events sometimes.
“I can’t understand it, but I am not going to fight it any more.
“OK, you have to adapt. What can I do?
“We would have preferred to play Saturday (yesterday) to be able to prepare, but it is what it is.
“I am pretty sure the Premier League want to help the teams. I don’t think they make it uncomfortable.”
Today’s trip to Merseyside is a crucial match at both ends of the Premier League, with City looking to maintain their lead over Arsenal at the top, and 17th-placed Everton battling to avoid relegation.
City drew 1-1 with Real in the first leg of their semi-final on Tuesday, and while a place in the Champions League final is at stake, Guardiola says the focus is firmly on facing Sean Dyche’s Toffees.
“My thought is just Everton — no more than that,” he said.
“It’s 11 months working for the Premier League. We don’t have much time to (prepare for) Madrid because we play on Sunday (today) — thank you so much — but it’s a real, real priority, Goodison Park.”
After Everton, City’s last league fixtures will see them take on Chelsea at home and Brighton away before ending the season at Brentford. Though City have a game in hand, Arsenal are just one point behind Guardiola’s side at the top of the table.
Guardiola believes the Gunners will “definitely” win their remaining matches — against Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Wolves — but the City boss is adamant his team must not rely on others’ results.
“There are four games left in the Premier League, and it’s really important to be there and keep our destiny in our hands,” he said. Arsenal, on the other hand, will be without William Saliba at home to Brighton & Hove Albion this afternoon, but the Frenchman and fellow defender Oleksandr Zinchenko are not ruled out for the remainder of the season, manager Mikel Arteta said.
Earlier reports indicated both would miss the remainder of the campaign.
“With William, that’s for sure that he is not going to be fit for this game, and we are doubting whether he will be for the next game (at Nottingham Forest) as well,” said Arteta, when asked about their injury status.
“But we want to keep the hope going, and make sure that we give ourselves the best chance to bring them back.”
Saliba has been out since March with a back injury, while Zinchenko came off with a suspected calf issue during the second half of Arsenal’s 2-0 win at third-placed Newcastle United last weekend.
Arsenal have three matches remaining and are one point behind City, who have a game in hand and have been in the driving seat since beating the North Londoners 4-1 at the Etihad on April 26.
Since then, Arsenal have beaten Chelsea and Newcastle.
“Every time you win, every time you play well, every time you feel like you are competing at a level that is required to win this league, it gives you hope,” said Arteta.
“It’s not in our hands and we are certainly going to need to be at our best again and try to win the Brighton game. If we win the game, we will be a little bit closer.
“There are three games to go, this is the crucial one and right now we want to beat them and elevate our hopes and enthusiasm to keep going because everything is still to play for,” added the Spaniard.
Arteta said Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi and his staff were doing a remarkable job, and expected Brighton to be very tough opponents.
Arsenal beat Brighton 4-2 when they met on the South Coast at the end of December, after losing 3-1 in the third round of the League Cup at the Emirates last November. — BBC/Reuters.
Online Reporter