Pep Guardiola fury at ‘unacceptable’ BBC and FA after Man City’s three-day turnaround
Pep Guardiola launched a fierce attack on the scheduling of Manchester City’s FA Cup semi-final, branding it “unacceptable” after watching his team book their place in the final by beating Chelsea.
Manchester City manager Guardiola even suggested he will now turn down any requests from broadcasters to do extra media activity in protest, but said it would be pointless to discuss his complaints with any of football’s governing bodies.
A late Bernardo Silva goal was enough to give City victory at Wembley on Saturday, just three days after their Champions League penalty shootout defeat by Real Madrid.
Manchester United, who did not play in Europe in midweek, play their semi-final against Coventry City on Sunday, and Guardiola said: “I’m incredibly happy to play the semi-final of the FA Cup. I love to be in the quarter-final of the Champions League, but I don’t understand. It’s for the health of the players. I don’t understand how we survived today.
“Why not give us one more day to arrive on Sunday because Coventry and United didn’t play in midweek. For broadcasters? OK. Don’t ask me after to do extra things because we won’t do it. It’s unacceptable to play today.
“What they have done today is one of the greatest things I have seen from a group of players. 120 minutes against Real, you can prepare absolutely nothing. Four hours to arrive here and play the game in these conditions. I don’t understand how we survived.”
Asked if City had requested to swap their semi-final tie to Sunday when the fixtures were announced, Guardiola said: “The club was late. You have to call before. In this country, they don’t change anything. If I pretend it will change next season, it won’t happen.
“But don’t ask me to make meetings. I’m busy. I have to prepare games every three days. If you don’t have the sensitivity of the players. If United played in the Champions League, I would understand completely but why not give us one more day? But it’s not going to change. Next season when we play in the Champions League, hopefully we will qualify, it is the same week as the Carabao Cup. How are we going to play? Will we play EDS (Elite Development Squad players) in the Carabao Cup?
“After next season, we go to the Club World Cup. We are incredibly happy, a lot of money, incredibly prestigious. But how many days do I give off to the players? It’s unsustainable. We have to perform for the fans, for the prestige of the club. How? I don’t have anything to say to the players. We can talk to Uefa, Fifa. Yeah, yeah yeah, OK, OK, OK, OK. More World Cups, more teams. It’s fine. I’m incredibly happy (to be in the final), but I just want to protect my players. I don’t have to run. I do this for the players – it is unacceptable.”
City’s victory was shown by the BBC, with presenter Gary Lineker offering an apology to Guardiola for the broadcaster’s role in scheduling the semi-finals. Sunday’s clash between United and Coventry will be shown by ITV.
But Guardiola added: “I’m right. It’s common sense. I’m not asking for a special privilege. We don’t complain about the schedule, we play every three days for seven years. But I want to protect my players. We started in conditions that were a risk for injuries and health. I know they don’t care, but I care. I want to protect them. I don’t want any more meetings. I don’t go because I have a game in three days, so I don’t have time to attend meetings. What they decide, we will do.”
Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino blamed a lack of a clinical edge for his team’s defeat, but also felt they should have been awarded a penalty for an incident in the second half that VAR checked for a handball against Jack Grealish.
“Jesus (Perez, Pochettino’s assistant) and my staff said it was a penalty,” said Pochettino. “I did not blame the referee. I said to him ‘why not go to check the penalty on the TV?’ From what I saw after, I think (nods), but move on.”
