Sports Desk
Just two days ago, Manchester City fought with Real Madrid in a high-voltage match of the UEFA Champions League. City had to enter the field against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. After defeating Chelsea to secure the final, Pep Guardiola expressed his anger about the packed match schedule. He cannot find any reason to keep the semi-final match on Saturday. The city boss finds such schedule totally unacceptable.
Manchester United and Coventry City will meet today in another semi-final of the FA Cup. Coventry currently play in the Championship. Of the four teams playing in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, City are the only ones having to play midweek matches. United and Chelsea do not have a match in the league, Coventry does not have a match in the Championship.
City take on Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday. After 120 minutes of playing in a hard-fought match that day, the decision was decided by a tiebreaker. Then they have to play another big match on Saturday with only two days break. Their opponents in the semi-finals of the FA Cup were Chelsea.
Guardiola said: ‘The way the boys played again today after playing 120 minutes on Wednesday, it was the best display from any team I have ever seen. But I just want to protect my sons. It is a matter of common sense. I am not demanding anything special or anything extra.’
“It’s unacceptable, it’s really unacceptable,” Guardiola told BBC Sport after the defeat to Chelsea. United, Chelsea are not playing this week and they have forced us to play today. It would be better if the match was on Friday next week.’
BBC Sport presenter Gary Lineker asked Guardiola if he thought it was unfair. In response, Guardiola said, ‘It is actually impossible. It’s not normal when you think about the health of the players, it’s really not normal.’
Although there is some injury problem, the main striker Arling Haaland was not played in this match mainly due to fatigue. Almost all the football players of the city who came to the field felt tired in this match. Their game lacked the familiar rhythm, pace and edge at all. However, they won the match with Bernardo Silva’s goal in the 84th minute. Chelsea paid for not being able to take advantage of many opportunities.
Sarabangla/SS
