MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) - Pep Guardiola insisted on Friday (Jan 11) he will be happy if Manchester City have no time for a mid-season break, because it will mean they are still competing for every trophy.
City's rivals Manchester United took the opportunity this week for a warm-weather training trip to Dubai, allowing boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer time to work on his squad's fitness.
Guardiola did take his players to Abu Dhabi last March, after their surprise FA Cup fifth round defeat at Wigan left them with a free week.
The City boss will consider a similar trip this time round if an early FA Cup exit leaves a gap in their match schedule.
But he acknowledges that it may be difficult to fit in such a break if City remain in the hunt for all four major prizes.
"Hopefully not, because that means we continue in the FA Cup and especially in the Champions League. We will see. If not, then we will have this time in summer time," Guardiola told a press conference.
"Last season, it was quite similar. But then after Wigan beat us in the FA Cup, we went there."
City are still in contention for a quadruple of Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup titles, something that has never been achieved in the English game.
They took a significant step towards winning one of those trophies on Wednesday, thrashing third tier Burton Albion 9-0 in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final.
It means that, barring something extraordinary in the second leg on January 23, City will feature in the final at Wembley on Feb 24.
That creates another barrier to a potential winter vacation as their league fixture at Everton, scheduled for the previous day, would have to be rearranged.
"Did you see the schedule this morning? I saw the schedule, and the Everton game will be fixed for another week, so we don't have many (spaces in the schedule for a warm-weather break), so we'll see," Guardiola said.
TITLE RACE
City, having taken a step towards a cup final, resume their attempt to catch leaders Liverpool in the Premier League title race on Monday, when they host Wolves.
Guardiola's side, in second place, are four points behind Liverpool after beating them 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Jan 3.
It was Liverpool's first league defeat of the season, and may have increased the pressure on a team trying to become champions of England for the first time since 1990.
But Guardiola rejected the suggestion that he is happier chasing than leading.
"I prefer to be in Liverpool's position," he said.
Guardiola hopes to have Sergio Aguero back for the Wolves match, with the striker having missed City's past two matches because of illness, while Vincent Kompany is close to recovering from a muscle problem.
City have found it tough keeping pace with Liverpool, despite collecting 50 points from 21 games, a better average this season than Barcelona, who are top of La Liga.
Barcelona have collected 40 points from 18 games, an average of 2.22 per match, while City's average of 2.38 is currently only good enough for second place.
"The Premier League is incredibly tough," he said. You don't realise how tough it is until you are here for the amount of games, the weather, the time needed for players to recover."
Crystal Palace moved further away from the Premier League relegation zone with a 3-1 win at fellow strugglers Burnley on Saturday thanks to second half goals from Michy Batshuayi and Wilfried Zaha. Palace took the lead in the 15th minute when Jeffrey Schlupp's pull-back struck Burnley defender Phil
Palace climb away from troube with 3-1 win at Burnley
Guardiola Dismisses Klopp's 'No Weaknesses' Claim About City that his Manchester City side are showing "no sign of weakness" in the Premier League title race. Stadium on January 3 and
N'Golo Kante's fitness ahead of the Europa League final is still not confirmed with Ross Barkley also warming up with the starting XI. The 28-year-old France World Cup winner was named in the starting XI, however Maurizio Sarri stated that he didn't know how fit Kante would be and that they would see in the warm up.
May 30, 2019 · Midfield can give Liverpool edge over Tottenham in final reckoning If Harry Kane is fit, should he start? We saw after Chelsea's victory in the Europa League how much getting silverware
Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea, Carabao Cup - Harry Kane's penalty
Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus will not travel to the US for the pre-season International Champions Cup in the summer, avoiding fears the star forward could be arrested over rape claims in the country.
Juve to avoid US pre-season amid Ronaldo rape claims - report
Nazri, 48, who was recently appointed assistant to new national coach Tatsuma Yoshida, said: "They responded to me very well and I always try to win the players' trust, that's the most important thing and it showed during the AirMarine Cup. "I hope they can continue the momentum and that's where I come in also to motivate the players.
HK racer legend in making - theworldnews.net
Teenage sensation Moise Kean scored the winner to put Juventus one step away from an eighth consecutive Serie A title on Saturday as a 2-1 comeback win over AC Milan pushed the champions 21 points
Kean winner puts Juventus on brink of Serie A title
Javier Tebas was linked with a move to Serie A in 2018. La Liga is unaware of any interest from the Premier League in hiring their president, Javier Tebas, but described reports linking him to the
La Liga 'pride' at Javier Tebas links to Premier League role
May 02, 2019 · Arsenal, Chelsea in strong positions in Europa League semis. The possibility of an all-English final in the Europa League grew stronger after Arsenal and Chelsea moved into strong positions in the
Arsenal favourites for Europa League, says Valencia's
Stubborn Sarri unruffled as Blues flop again, Football News
Spurs 'still in a dream' after Man City win, says Pochettino • Spurs lost 4-3 in a classic encounter against City in Wednesday's quarter-final second leg, but went through on away goals after the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate.
London - England captain Harry Kane insists the Three Lions' squad are too united to be divided by the tension of club rivalries surrounding the Premier League title race and upcoming Champions
Kane insists club rivalries will not split England camp
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen