Two semi-finals in four days. This is what Manchester City had to deal with, Saturday’s winner over Chelsea (1-0) in the last four of the FA Cup, three days after their elimination in the Champions League against Real Madrid (1-1, 3- 4 tabs). Despite his team’s victory against the Blues thanks to a late goal from Bernardo Silva, Pep Guardiola strongly protested at a press conference against this hellish schedule.
“It’s unacceptable to have played today. It is not normal. For the health of the players, it is unacceptable,” he said, while recalling that the clash against Real Madrid on Wednesday evening in C1 had lasted more than 120 minutes due to extra time. “I don’t understand how we survived today,” he said. I know the Cup is a special competition here, but you have to think about the players. Why didn’t we play on Sunday? Manchester United and Coventry (who will face each other in the other semi-final on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.) did not play in the middle of the week. We want to play football, we love this sport, but it’s nonsense. »