Pep Guardiola subtly criticized the Premier League after Manchester City’s Super Cup victory.
On Wednesday, Manchester City secured the Super Cup alongside their Treble triumph from the previous season, prevailing over Sevilla in a penalty shootout in Athens.
However, they had to rally from a deficit as Youssef En-Nesyri’s towering header granted the Europa League champions the lead in the first half.
Manchester City’s standout player of the match, Cole Palmer, equalized for the Premier League side by connecting with a looping header at the far post in the 63rd minute.
This setup led to a tense conclusion, culminating in Sevilla defender Nemanja Gudelj missing the decisive penalty, moments after City’s captain Kyle Walker successfully scored the fifth penalty in the shootout.
With attention now shifting to Newcastle United’s upcoming visit to the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday, Guardiola took a veiled swipe at the Premier League for not rescheduling City’s match to a Sunday or Monday, thereby allowing ample time for the players to recover from the Super Cup triumph.The clip can be viewed below.
“Thank you so much to the Premier League for letting us play on Saturday…and not on Sunday or Monday…” 👀
Man City boss Pep Guardiola on his sides recovery after their Super Cup win ⬇️pic.twitter.com/s4gzhK2cff
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 17, 2023
In his press conference, Guardiola sarcastically said: “Of course, tomorrow we will be even happier than today, recovering [having had] not one drop of alcohol.
“[We need to] recover as much as possible because, again, from Greece, thank you so much to the Premier League for letting us play on Saturday, and not on Sunday and Monday. Thank you so much.”
Guardiola has long been critical of the fixture congestion brought on by the Premier League schedule, having previously insisted players are playing too much football and were at risk of suffering injuries.
On the Super Cup victory Guardiola added: “I would say of course we are not in the best, best moment but knowing the players and the mentality of the backroom staff, I had a feeling that we will try.
“We are really pleased to have already one title in this season. I am really pleased for the club – this title we didn’t have and now we have it. A tight game like this happened in the [Champions League] final against Inter.
“We also lost a tight game in the last minute against Arsenal [in the Community Shield]. Football in these stages, at that moment, is a coin [flip].
“Now it is just one thing to finish full circle and have all the titles this club can have. It’s happening in December when we go to Saudi Arabia to play the [Club] World Cup.”