Guardiola believes that the home match against Bournemouth, who will have major consequences on the qualification of his team for the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, should have been postponed to Wednesday rather than Tuesday in order to leave his team time to recover from the FA Cup final on Saturday against Crystal Palace.
Pep Guardiola demands rest for his players
City was to face Bournemouth on Saturday, but the match had to be shifted due to its participation in the Cup final. Guardiola compared the short delay granted to City between his two games on the trip from Tottenham to Aston Villa on Friday to give Spurs more time to prepare for the Europa League final against Manchester United.
Guardiola said at a press conference:
“Tottenham plays against Villa Friday (because of) the final of the Europa League. Good decision, (without irony or sarcasm. The first league made the right decision. We regularly play the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, on Wednesday outside, then the semi-finals on Saturday. This season, we played (the semi-final against Nottingham Forest) Sunday (while) we did not need this additional day. Play Wednesday, that's for sure. “
Very annoyed Guardiola
Guardiola believes that City's concerns are never taken seriously by the competition organizers. Last year, he attacked Gary Lineker after the BBC ordered City to play his FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea three days after his quarter-final of the Champions League against Real Madrid-which ended in overtime-when they could have played a day later. He explained: ” We have been fighting this situation for nine years each season. We are going to play Tuesday evening, against an intense, physical and powerful team, Bournemouth, who plays for the Europa League and we have to do with it. »»
