Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola welcomed the challenge of navigating through a packed fixture list this month, saying his team’s busy schedule was a result of their dominance across domestic and European competitions.
City will play eight times in April in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, starting with Saturday’s league game at Burnley before taking on Liverpool in an FA Cup semi-final and Atletico Madrid twice.
League leaders City, the reigning champions, have 70 points from 29 games — one point more than second-placed Liverpool, whom they will host at the Etihad Stadium on April 10.
“We have a lot of games, but it’s not the first time we’re doing it… We’ve done incredible work so far,” Guardiola told a news conference on Friday.
“We still have nine games left to play (in the league). We can (make) mistakes and win the title… We’re going to fight until the end, that’s for sure.”
Liverpool will have the opportunity to overtake City at the top of the league standings if they beat Watford in Saturday’s early game but Guardiola said his side remain focused on their trip to Turf Moor.
“It means nothing,” Guardiola said when asked about Liverpool’s advantage. “At the end of the weekend we will know the position that we are in but whether we are points in front or backwards we have to do our job.
“Burnley away is always tough, especially with the way they play,” he said of Sean Dyche’s team, who are in the relegation zone in 19th place with 21 points.
“I have incredible respect for Sean Dyche for many years. The consistent way they play shows he’s a good manager.”
Guardiola said centre-back Ruben Dias, who has been sidelined since the beginning of March, would miss Saturday’s game and might not recover in time for next week’s clash against Liverpool.
“Ruben Dias and Cole Palmer are out, the rest are fit,” he said.
“Ruben is out, I don’t know how long. The doctor said four to six weeks, he is on four now. I think we need 10 days or two weeks more.”
City will play eight times in April in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, starting with Saturday’s league game at Burnley before taking on Liverpool in an FA Cup semi-final and Atletico Madrid twice.
League leaders City, the reigning champions, have 70 points from 29 games — one point more than second-placed Liverpool, whom they will host at the Etihad Stadium on April 10.
“We have a lot of games, but it’s not the first time we’re doing it… We’ve done incredible work so far,” Guardiola told a news conference on Friday.
“We still have nine games left to play (in the league). We can (make) mistakes and win the title… We’re going to fight until the end, that’s for sure.”
Liverpool will have the opportunity to overtake City at the top of the league standings if they beat Watford in Saturday’s early game but Guardiola said his side remain focused on their trip to Turf Moor.
“It means nothing,” Guardiola said when asked about Liverpool’s advantage. “At the end of the weekend we will know the position that we are in but whether we are points in front or backwards we have to do our job.
“Burnley away is always tough, especially with the way they play,” he said of Sean Dyche’s team, who are in the relegation zone in 19th place with 21 points.
“I have incredible respect for Sean Dyche for many years. The consistent way they play shows he’s a good manager.”
Guardiola said centre-back Ruben Dias, who has been sidelined since the beginning of March, would miss Saturday’s game and might not recover in time for next week’s clash against Liverpool.
“Ruben Dias and Cole Palmer are out, the rest are fit,” he said.
“Ruben is out, I don’t know how long. The doctor said four to six weeks, he is on four now. I think we need 10 days or two weeks more.”
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
