Manchester City's upcoming Champions League play-off against Real Madrid presents a unique scheduling scenario, potentially giving Pep Guardiola's side an advantage. While City faces a relatively comfortable fixture against Leyton Orient, Real Madrid is scheduled for a grueling local derby against Atletico Madrid just hours before the Champions League clash. The late kick-off times for Real Madrid's away matches this season have reportedly left the players fatigued, potentially impacting their performance against City.
Pep Guardiola expressed concern about Manchester City 's upcoming fixture list even before knowing their Champions League play-off opponents. The schedule from late January to early March pits City against five of the top six Premier League teams, including Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Forest, alongside a challenging encounter against Real Madrid .
Guardiola acknowledged the difficulty of this run, stating, 'It's tough playing against Real or Bayern, and the problem is in the middle, playing Newcastle. They are always so kind in the calendar for many years.' He further commented on the broadcasters' scheduling decisions, saying, 'The broadcasters decide. They don't ask me if it's better to play Tuesday or Wednesday. In Portugal and France they play on Friday. We played on Sunday before we went to Paris. We lost 4-2 and I didn't complain one. It's fine, it has always been like that. When I see the calendar, it is what it is.'Despite City's frequent complaints about scheduling, they are set to benefit from an unexpected advantage in this instance. While Manchester City faces a League One side, Leyton Orient on Saturday, Real Madrid has a demanding fixture against Atletico Madrid in a top-of-the-table clash eight hours later. Although a home game means minimal travel for City, reports suggest that Real Madrid players are fatigued due to the late kick-off times for their away matches. A December report in Spanish newspaper AS claimed that Real Madrid were exhausted from having 11 out of their 13 away games starting at 9 pm local time. 'We are fed up with the fact that every time we play a game away from Madrid, we don’t get home until 3am… if we’re lucky. And the next day, we have to train! If it’s already difficult to rest with so many games, imagine with these schedules,” an anonymous source told the paper.The upcoming Champions League play-off first leg in Manchester will be Real Madrid's 17th away game out of 20 that has started so late. This adds another layer of difficulty to their already demanding schedule, especially after the intensity of a local derby against Diego Simeone's Atletico. While this scheduling disadvantage might not be enough for City to secure a decisive victory in the tie, it offers a fortunate break that they are not accustomed to experiencing
Champions League Manchester City Real Madrid Pep Guardiola Scheduling Atletico Madrid Leyton Orient
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