Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 8y

Manuel Pellegrini slams Man City schedule ahead of Real Madrid clash

MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini said it is "unbelievable" that Manchester City have been forced to play on a Sunday ahead of their Champions League semifinal with Real Madrid.

His side face a late afternoon match against Southampton in the last fixture of the weekend -- three days before their second leg in the Bernabeu. Real Madrid kick off in their trip to Real Sociedad on Saturday afternoon.

City made tentative enquiries about moving the game forward to the Saturday, but didn't make a formal approach to Premier League officials as they did not expect the request to be granted.

Pellegrini is surprised by the lack of support from the Premier League particularly as any success for City would help England keep their four qualifying berths in Europe's top club competition.

The City boss told a news conference: "It was the club, they do the conversation with the Premier League, so I don't know why the reason is they couldn't do it. Finally, [City directors] Ferran [Soriano] and Txiki [Bergiristain] told me it was impossible to change it.

"For me it is unbelievable, but if you see other leagues, including Italy, the teams that play Champions League play their domestic games on a Friday, so I think it's better for English football, because if you don't continue in the Champions League, and I'm not talking just about Manchester City -- maybe we are going to lose a spot for the next Champions League.

"I think its important not to give any advantage to the other team but also you need three days to recover. We are going to have those three [full] days, also we are playing late on Sunday, in the last kickoff, but at least we are going to have three days to recover.

"It's not the best thing -- if you can have four days to [recover] it's better and I think the mentality should be not to give any advantage to your rivals."

Pellegrini was annoyed earlier in the season when City were forced to play their FA Cup fifth round against Chelsea three days before a Champions League last-16 clash with Dynamo Kiev. He played a weakened team at Stamford Bridge as City lost 5-1 before triumphing in their first leg in Ukraine.

But the Chilean will not have the luxury of resting players for Real Madrid as City are involved in a three-way fight with Arsenal and Manchester United to qualify for next season's Champions League.

"As a manager you always want to have all the options but, of course, you are representing England in the Champions League, you at least don't want to give the advantage to the other team," he added. "That is very important.

"It's different with the FA Cup. I wasn't happy in that moment to not continue in the FA Cup. They must review that because it's impossible to be in both competitions.

"The FA Cup is an important, old competition and deserves respect. To leave it out because you want to continue in the Champions League should not be a decision for the manager, there must be a format for the cup that allows teams to play both competitions."

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