Pep Guardiola has voiced his frustration over Manchester City's packed fixture schedule in February, following their Champions League playoff draw against Real Madrid. The City boss criticised the lack of recovery time between matches, pointing out that English teams in Europe often face tougher domestic schedules than their rivals abroad.
City will host Real Madrid on 11 February before travelling to the Bernabéu on 19 February, with seven matches in 24 days including league games against Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham, and an FA Cup tie against Leyton Orient. Guardiola sarcastically remarked: 'They are always so kind with the calendar, for many years it always happened that way.'
Guardiola noted that managers like Sir Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho and Arsène Wenger have made similar complaints in the past, but believes nothing will change due to broadcasters' influence. He said: 'The schedule is what it is. In the Premier League everyone has to play everyone but what normally happens is we have tougher schedules for the teams in Europe.'
Despite his grievances, Guardiola acknowledged that City's difficult fixture list is partly self-inflicted after finishing 22nd in the Champions League group phase, winning only three of eight games. He accepted: 'We could be in the first eight but we were not good enough, we don't deserve it. The draw could be nicer, yes.'
The City manager admitted he is not optimistic about changes to the calendar, stating: 'Do you think it's going to change? The broadcasters decide, they don't ask me.' He added that his side has previously succeeded under such conditions, winning a treble and quadruple, and will 'survive' again if they are good enough.
