Pep Guardiola rues Eurovision for messing up Man City’s plans

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Guardiola blames Eurovision if Man City fails to win the treble this season. Pep Guardiola hopes that the Eurovision Song Contest will not ruin Manchester City’s historic chance of winning the treble.

City faces Everton in the Premier League on Sunday, while their Champions League rivals, Real Madrid, play on Saturday, giving them an extra day to recover for the second leg of next week’s semi-final.

Merseyside Police was not willing to allow City’s trip to Goodison Park on Saturday because it would clash with the Eurovision schedule being held in Liverpool. As a result, City has 24 hours less preparation time than Madrid for Wednesday’s match at the Etihad, with the first leg ending in a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu.

“I don’t want to be distracted by Madrid because I don’t have time,” said Guardiola.

“Well, not much (time to rest), because we play on Sunday – thank you so much.” “I don’t understand it, but I don’t want to complain anymore about this. We have to adapt, so it doesn’t matter.”

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“We can’t play on Saturday because of Eurovision in Liverpool, and we don’t have enough police to handle two important events at the same time, but I hope it doesn’t affect our plans.”

“So, okay, we have to adapt. What can I do? We would prefer to play on Saturday so that we have more time to prepare, of course. But it is what it is. I don’t fight anymore for schedules – UEFA or the Premier League.”

“The Premier League is more important, the schedule is the schedule. From day one, I’ve felt that way – and it won’t change.

In a positive way, we have an extra day to recover for the match against Everton.” “So, we prepare in this way – one day less for Madrid, but one more for the Premier League, and that’s good,” he added.

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