Big worry for Manchester City ahead of their Champions league clash with Real Madrid
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has blasted on FA decision to force his team play on a Sunday ahead of their Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
“It was the club, they do the conversation with the Premier League, so I don’t know why the reason is they couldn’t do it. Finally, [City directors] Ferran [Soriano] and Txiki [Bergiristain] told me it was impossible to change it.
Big worry for Manchester City ahead of their Champions league clash with Real Madrid
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“For me it is unbelievable, but if you see other leagues, including Italy, the teams that play Champions League play their domestic games on a Friday, so I think it’s better for English football, because if you don’t continue in the Champions League, and I’m not talking just about Manchester City — maybe we are going to lose a spot for the next Champions League.
“I think its important not to give any advantage to the other team but also you need three days to recover. We are going to have those three [full] days, also we are playing late on Sunday, in the last kickoff, but at least we are going to have three days to recover.
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“It’s not the best thing — if you can have four days to [recover] it’s better and I think the mentality should be not to give any advantage to your rivals.”
“As a manager you always want to have all the options but, of course, you are representing England in the Champions League, you at least don’t want to give the advantage to the other team,” he added. “That is very important.
“It’s different with the FA Cup. I wasn’t happy in that moment to not continue in the FA Cup. They must review that because it’s impossible to be in both competitions.
“The FA Cup is an important, old competition and deserves respect. To leave it out because you want to continue in the Champions League should not be a decision for the manager, there must be a format for the cup that allows teams to play both competitions.”