Man City vs Real Madrid: Both Real Madrid and Manchester City are exhausted from their schedule in two competitions. Real Madrid just played their La Liga match yesterday, so they will have 4 days before the Champions League clash. Man City played their Premier League match today, so they will have only 3 days before the same match. Both Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti lamented over the hectic schedule and Ancelotti agreed they now have an advantage over City. Follow Champions League LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Both Manchester City and Real Madrid are working overtime. Manchester City are chasing the treble this season. They have a 4-point lead in the Premier League over 2nd-placed Arsenal. They have 3 matches left to play in the league and they cannot afford to lose or draw in any of their remaining matches. Their recent match was against Everton on Sunday evening. Their last match was on Tuesday against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final first-leg match, so they had a 4-day gap before this match.
Man City’s next match is the semi-final return leg match against Real Madrid at home on Wednesday. Hence, they only have a 3-day gap before the Champions League match. This has been a regular thing for Manchester City as the season end is coming soon and City still had more matches left than others. On top of that, along with the Champions League and Premier League, they are also chasing the FA Cup trophy to complete their treble. This means they are extremely focused on all three competitions and first-team players are working to exhaustion.
Coach Pep Guardiola has lamented over the hectic schedule many times. Recently before their match against Everton, he was asked about the matter again. He said, “I can’t understand it but I’m not going to fight it anymore. I don’t understand it but we have to adapt. The schedules, it is what it is. It’s not frustrating it is what it is… I’m sure the Premier League want to help teams, they don’t want to make us uncomfortable, the problem is the schedule, this amount of competitions, this amount of games.”
Real Madrid now have such a big point gap from La Liga leaders Barcelona, that there is no chance of winning the league at this stage. They have also already won the Copa Del Rey trophy. Hence, their sole focus is on the Champions League where they played the first leg against Man City in a similar situation to them with only a 3-day gap before that match. Having played their last match on Saturday, they now have a 4-day gap before the second leg. Their coach Carlo Ancelotti has agreed with Guardiola over the exhaustive schedule.
He also agreed that Madrid now have an advantage before the second leg. He said, “Guardiola has complained about the calendar, which, as we have said many times, is too tight. In the first leg we had to play with less rest and now it’s their turn. The calendar is not the right one… that’s it, that’s my point of view, there’s too many games in a short space of time.”
He added, “Guardiola is right… he’s right. Maybe it would’ve been better for them to play on Saturday, I mean as we’ve just done. It’s the same with us, having the semi-final on Tuesday… I don’t know.”
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