- Guardiola furious with PL schedule
- City couldn't train after 4am return from Athens
- Champions face Newcastle on Saturday
WHAT HAPPENED? Guardiola has blasted the Premier League for making City play just three days after their win over Sevilla in Athens. City returned from Greece in the early hours of Thursday after beating the Spanish side on penalties, leaving them less than three days to prepare for the visit of Newcastle.
WHAT THEY SAID: "We want to continue to compete and we are now in a big, big problem. Not just for this game but in general and that is what it is. Every manager would say the same in my position," Guardiola said in a press conference.
"People went to sleep at 4am in Greece when they played at 10pm. Arrive, recovery with 35°C or 40°C in Greece. Come back, arrive here late, and then it’s this game, tomorrow’s game, today we cannot train. I would train but we are not going to do anything because we do not have time. I would love one more day."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Guardiola has a long history of criticising the Premier League over match scheduling, believing City are often given too little time to recover from their matches in Europe. But he praised his team for constantly overcoming obstacles. "This is the challenge. This is why we won. Because we overcome all the time this kind of position. All the time we have less time to recover between the games, not a problem," he added. "One of the more physical teams, one of the more efficient teams in the Premier League right now, I would say are Liverpool and Newcastle. This is what defines the big teams, how we compete with the problems."
IN THREE PHOTOS:
(C)Getty Images
Getty
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR MAN CITY? Guardiola's side host Newcastle, who thrashed Aston Villa 5-1, on Saturday. They will then visit Sheffield United the following Sunday.