Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on the upcoming fixture congestion and how ready the players are as they prepare to face Arsenal
Etihad Training Campus, Manchester, Uk
Etihad Training Campus, Manchester, Uk
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00:00Pretty demanding February for your team in terms of the quality of opposition
00:04that you'll face with Arsenal this week and Liverpool in their Newcastle too.
00:08How ready do you think your side is to take on that challenge and get to that level?
00:12Well, we start in Paris and afternoon in Chelsea,
00:15so we are already there in the amount of difficult games.
00:20The schedule is what it is and in the Premier League every team has to play with everyone.
00:28But, yeah, that's true, that normally happens here in the Premier League,
00:31you know that, always they put the toughest schedules for the European teams
00:35in the important stages, in the most difficult ones.
00:40Because it's tough to play against Real Madrid or Bayern Munich,
00:44the problem is in the middle you have Newcastle, you know?
00:46And always they are so kind for the calendar,
00:50for many, many years it's always happened that way.
00:53Do you have any of your injured players back for this Arsenal game?
00:58No, continue the same.
01:03Pep, you mentioned there about the calendar,
01:06it does seem that some of the European countries do get a little bit of help,
01:11do you think they just never look at that?
01:13Are you asking me that question after many years here?
01:16Come on, don't make me that question to say something impolite or that.
01:21So you are here for many, many years before I came here,
01:24always have been like that, always.
01:27So it's not complaining because we had an incredible success
01:29dealing with this calendar,
01:31but don't make me that question, it's a surprise for you.
01:33Because you know it's happened for always, always have been like that.
01:38So we accept it and say no, I'm not complaining
01:41because we want the tribals and the quadruples doing like that.
01:44I said many times in the past last season,
01:51we played in the quarterfinals against Madrid,
01:55I think so, and three days later we had the FA Cup semi-final in Wembley
02:04when we could have another more day.
02:05So always have been like that and we survive,
02:08and we don't survive because Madrid is better,
02:10Bayern Munich is better, the opponents are better.
02:12But the calendar, because I remember I said many times,
02:14when I was in Barcelona training
02:16and I followed the Premier League
02:17because it's the most attractive athletic league in the world,
02:20Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger make the same complaints.
02:24So now you cannot ask me about the calendar
02:26because it's from a long, long time ago.
02:28But just because it's always been like that
02:30doesn't mean to say it always has to be like that in the future.
02:33Do you think it's going to change?
02:39The broadcasters decide,
02:40so they don't ask me when it's better to play Tuesday or Wednesday
02:43to have one more day.
02:44There are leagues that play on Friday before the Champions League.
02:48They play on Friday in Portugal,
02:50they play on Friday in France to have one more day here.
02:53We went to Paris to play on Sunday in Ibbustown.
02:56Why don't we play on Saturday?
02:57We play on Sunday.
02:59They say now that we are lost 2-4 and they didn't complain once.
03:03It always has been like that.
03:05So it's not a problem because you ask me.
03:07So it is what it is.
03:10It's fine.
03:11So it's fine.
03:13It's fine.
03:13It has been always like that.
03:14It was an incredible success of that.
03:16No surprise.
03:17When I see the calendar, it is what it is.
03:20Because for here, the Premier League is much more important than other competitions.