Pep Guardiola was critical of the scheduling of his team’s matches following Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea; and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta feels the same way.
On a busy Saturday of league and cup action in England, the Citizens beat the Blues at Wembley to progress to back-to-back FA Cup finals.
Bernardo Silva grabbed the late winner for City as Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea missed out on another opportunity at silverware, this time at the penultimate hurdle.
City may have achieved yet another shot at a cup, but Wednesday’s missed chance of going one step further in defending their Champions League crown still haunts them — and Guardiola was quick to bring up the Real Madrid game that had passed.
Speaking to BBC post-match, the Spaniard lashed out at the scheduling of City’s games, citing player wellbeing as a reason he feels they should have played a day later.
“It’s unacceptable to let us play today. It’s not normal. One hundred and twenty minutes, the emotions of Madrid, the way we lose, honestly. I know this country is special [the FA Cup] but it’s for the health of the players,” he said.
The manager added that he felt Manchester United’s game against Coventry should have been moved to Saturday with City playing on Sunday instead.
“Why not give us an extra day with Manchester United, Chelsea and Coventry not playing in midweek? For the broadcasters?” he questioned.
Elsewhere on the day, City’s Premier League title rivals Arsenal picked up a 2-0 win over Wolves at Molineux. And coming off the back of a continental defeat in Munich on Wednesday, manager Mikel Arteta concurred with Guardiola’s comments.
“It’s not about Pep or myself. It’s about the wellbeing of the players. When you compete in European competition, every team has to compete in the same way,” Arteta told reporters on Saturday.
“You cannot have a team that has more recovery time, and then you have to play in the Premier League and the FA Cup. It is not right.”
The Gunners’ win sent them to the top of the table with a home game against Chelsea on Tuesday next on the agenda before City next play. The champions will make a trip to Brighton on Thursday.
Meanwhile on Merseyside, Liverpool will look to close the gap at the top when they travel to London to take on Fulham on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp will then ready himself for his final derby day when the Reds take on Everton on Wednesday.
Pictured above: Pep Guardiola
Image source: @fabrizioromano
