Pep Guardiola blasted Eurovision as Manchester City get just two days’ rest ahead of next week’s fixtures plus the Real Madrid rematch.
The European song contest will be held on Saturday at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena and Merseyside Police will not be able to staff the event and City’s crucial Premier League trip to Everton on the same day.
Even after Guardiola’s squad advanced to the Champions League semifinals, the encounter at Goodison Park could not be moved from Sunday fixtures.
“We play Sunday, thank you so much,” Guardiola said sarcastically. “I don’t understand it, but I don’t want to fight for that anymore.”
“How many times can we comment on that? I don’t understand it, but we have to adapt to it so… it doesn’t matter, I don’t fight the schedules: UEFA’s, Premier League’s and so on.”
“We can’t play Saturday because of Eurovision and we don’t have enough police to handle two important events at the same time. OK, we have to adapt. What can I do? We’d prefer to play Saturday so we can prepare more, definitely.”
“I’m pretty sure the Premier League wants to help the teams in the Premier League – I don’t think they [purposefully] make it uncomfortable. The problem is the schedule, the amount of competitions and games.”
“France and Germany play Friday, here is the opposite. The Premier League is more important, the schedule is the schedule. Since day one I felt it, it’s not going to change.”
City’s opponent in the Champions League Real Madrid are to face Gatafe on Saturday and are expected to get enough rest before the travel to Etihad.
Guardiola and his team on the other hand do not have such luxury of time as they battle Arsenal to retain their title.
Pep Guardiola confirms that he will not be making any changes despite the matchup with Real Madrid after they played 1-1 draw at Bernabeu.
“In a positive way, we have one more day to recover for the Everton game, I take it in this way,” Pep added.
“We’ll see the team, I will smell [the attitude], we’ll speak to the physios and decide. There are a lot of games to choose. Maybe people don’t believe me but I rely on all of them a lot.”
“Every player is ready to play and give his own absolute contribution. Of course there are players at the moment who are so, so important for us and we’ll see if they can play every three or four days.”
“After Leeds last week people told me, “I am tired” and the game after was so demanding. If you win the previous game you win, your mental recovery is better and quicker.”
“If you think exhausted you are exhausted and [say] “I cannot do it anymore”, you can. You can. if you desire something and mentally you are in the right position, the human being can have incredible energy that you didn’t know you have.”
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a 2020 American musical comedy film which was directed by David Dobkin, written by Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele, and starring Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens, Melissanthi Mahut, Mikael Persbrandt, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Graham Norton, Demi Lovato, and Pierce Brosnan.
The Eurovision song contest gives Icelandic singers Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdóttir a chance to represent their country at the music extravaganza.
This was originally meant to be a May 2020 release on Netflix to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 contest was canceled, and the film was subsequently released a month later, on June 26.
Pep Guardiola And Manchester City’s Upcoming Fixtures
Manchester City are in for a set of tough matches after their encounter with Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday by 2 PM.
The remaining of their matches in all competitions are as follows:
Wednesday 17th May
UEFA Champions League
Manchester City 20:00 Real Madrid
Sunday 21st May
Premier League
Manchester City 16:00 Chelsea
Wednesday 24th May
Premier League
Brighton and Hove Albion 20:00 Manchester City
Sunday 28th May
Premier League
Brentford 16:30 Manchester City
June 2023
Saturday 3rd June
Manchester City 15:00 Manchester United
