Guardiola on Palmer, FA Cup replays and Real Madrid
Pep Guardiola has spoken to the media before Manchester City's FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.
Here are the main lines from his news conference:
On facing in-form former City forward Cole Palmer: "He's an exceptional player. I said many times, I didn't give him the minutes that maybe he deserved and now he has at Chelsea. I understand completely. He's a shy guy with a lot of potential. It is what it is. He was asking for two seasons to leave and I said stay. He said he wanted to leave. What could we do?"
On the Champions League defeat to Real Madrid: "Today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will better than today. We don't want to feel sorry for ourselves. We performed at our best but were not able to win. Do you know which team we were facing? Did you expect they wouldn't have the ball or create opportunities? And think we were going to win another Treble? And next season another Treble? And win the Premier League by 20 points? It's not true."
On the fitness of Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland: "Kevin feels well. Erling we will see. Erling felt a muscular issue and that's why he said he could not continue. Kevin felt exhausted and after what happened with injury for five months, that is normal."
On scrapping FA Cup replays: "You (media) know better than me the reason why it was created. It's for the lower-division sides to have the chance to have big clubs and get money for them. In that sense, it is a problem. For big clubs playing in European competitions, it is much better because we have a tight schedule. To find a balance in world football is so difficult. I understand why clubs in lower divisions complain and it has been a tradition for many years but with the schedule that we have playing in European competition and with many players going to the national team, it is much better."
