Article by Tudor Belivacă – Published Monday, March 02, 2026, 11:52 / Updated Monday, March 02, 2026 11:52
Pep Guardiola, the coach of Manchester City, was extremely disturbed by the programming that the “citizens” received in the FA Cup. Erling Haaland and company take on Newcastle at St James's Park on Saturday 7 March. from 22:00.
The reason why Pep Guardiola was extremely upset was that the “citizens” were scheduled very late and have less time to recover for the duel with Real Madrid in the Champions League at the Bernabeu scheduled for March 11, from 22:00.
Manchester City will face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, March 11, but before that they will have to do their job against the underdogs on Saturday from 8pm. This means that the current European champions will have only 94 hours between the two matches, including the trip to the Spanish capital.
Pep Guardiola bothered by scheduling of FA Cup clash with Newcastle: 'Thank you because we'll have less recovery time'
“Newcastle at 8:00 p.m. (England time)… Thank you very much for this schedule! I really thank you that we will have even less recovery time before we go to Madrid. It's one thing to get back to Manchester at seven or eight in the evening and start recovery straight away, and quite another to get home at one or two in the morning.
It's a huge difference. I know all the other FA Cup teams play at 3pm. All right, we're playing at 8:00 p.m. Details such as corners, free kicks or free kicks – that's where fatigue decides. We have less time, and as soon as we return, we have to go to Madrid again”, the “citizens” coach said, according to sportal.blic.rs.
The Citizens have an extremely busy schedule in March and will be playing consistently every three days. Before the FA Cup match with Newcastle and the duel with Real Madrid in the Champions League, Guardiola's students will also receive the visit of Nottingham Forest for a match of the #29 stage of the Premier League.
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