{"id":181221,"date":"2026-05-01T13:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/181221\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T13:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:48:11","slug":"pep-guardiola-plays-down-man-citys-frustrations-over-fixture-pile-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/181221\/","title":{"rendered":"Pep Guardiola plays down Man City\u2019s frustrations over fixture pile-up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>City face a hectic end to the campaign after Premier League games against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth were given new dates either side of their FA Cup final against Chelsea.<\/p>\n<p>The matches needed to be moved because of City\u2019s progression in both domestic cups but the new schedule means they need to play three times in the space of seven days from May 13-19.<\/p>\n<p>Their programme then concludes with a visit from Aston Villa on May 24.<\/p>\n<p>City were unhappy when the fixtures were confirmed this week \u2013 particularly feeling the Palace game originally slated for March could have been rearranged earlier \u2013 but boss Guardiola has accepted it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is what it is,\u201d he said at a press conference on Friday. \u201cWhen we won the treble and quadruple we always had this kind of calendar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course it could be better but I\u2019ve never expected (help). We\u2019ll do that and go game by game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe broadcasters, Premier League, whoever, decides. We will be there with 11 players plus people on the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Guardiola was relaxed as he spoke to media, suggesting he is not feeling the pressure of the title race.<\/p>\n<p>City trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by three points but have a game in hand, having five left to play compared to the Gunners\u2019 four.<\/p>\n<p>The gap could have grown to six points by the time the Carabao Cup winners play at Everton on Monday night but Guardiola insists that does not bother him.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cIt\u2019s normal, it\u2019s the calendar. Sometimes you play first, sometimes behind. It is what it is and nothing changes at this stage \u2013 you know exactly what you have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So laid-back was Guardiola that he claimed he did not even know when Arsenal were next playing when asked if he would be watching their game against Fulham on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cWhat time do they play? It\u2019s after a training session, so maybe I will watch it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2.84406953.jpg\" alt=\"John Stones will leave City at the end of the season \" data-title=\"Manchester City v Southampton \u2013 Emirates FA Cup \u2013 Semi Final \u2013 Wembley Stadium\" data-copyright-holder=\"PA Wire\" data-copyright-notice=\"PA Wire\/PA Images\" data-credit=\"Adam Davy\" data-usage-terms=\"Use subject to FA restrictions. Editorial use only. Commercial use only with prior written consent of the FA. No editing except cropping.\"  \/>John Stones will leave City at the end of the season (Adam Davy\/PA)<\/p>\n<p>Guardiola gave his players a few days off earlier this week and he used some of his free time to attend Stockport v Port Vale in League One.<\/p>\n<p>He joked: \u201cThe day before I saw the calendar, the PSG-Bayern game, and I said, \u2018What a disaster game, the managers are not good, really s*** players!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am in love with English football and I went to see Stockport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Defender John Stones announced this week he would leave City at the end of the season after 10 years at the club having won six Premier League titles and the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p>Guardiola said: \u201cHe was the best player by far in the final in Istanbul. That shows his huge personality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike with Bernardo (Silva), part of ourselves is leaving. His contribution has been massive. He\u2019s an incredible person on and off the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"City face a hectic end to the campaign after Premier League games against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth were&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-181221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}