Man City’s Pep Guardiola slams Premier League scheduling

Pep Guardiola has hit out at the Premier League over the scheduling of Manchester City’s fixture against Bournemouth.

City will play their penultimate league fixture of the season at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

The game has been moved because of City’s participation in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.

However, speaking to media on Friday, Guardiola questioned why the match couldn’t be played on Wednesday to give his players 24 hours more rest.

Asked whether he would have liked to face Bournemouth on Wednesday or Thursday, Guardiola said: “Definitely.

“I would prefer to play Wednesday, definitely. It will be tough. We have been nine years fighting against these situations, every single season and nothing goes.

“We are going to play Tuesday night against a most intense and physical and direct and powerful [team] in the Premier League like Bournemouth, who are playing for the Europa League or Conference qualification. So we have to deal with that.”

Guardiola is particularly frustrated at City’s schedule after Tottenham Hotspur’s game against Aston Villa was brought forward ahead of the Europa League final against Manchester United.

Spurs were originally scheduled to face Villa on Sunday but instead played at Villa Park on Friday.

“Tottenham Hotspur play against Aston Villa on Friday ahead of the Europa League final,” said Guardiola.

“Good decision, I’m not being sarcastic. The Premier League made a good decision, very good. We played all the time in semifinals and quarterfinals on Wednesday away and we play [again] on Saturday.

“This season we didn’t play, we played Sunday. We didn’t need that day extra when we played in that position.”