Pep Guardiola acknowledged that the club’s World Cup could “destroy” Manchester City’s 2025-26 campaign, with the manager ignoring its potential impact to avoid feeling anxious.
On Monday, the city faced al-Hilal at the last 16 Orlando Camping World Stadium. While some of Guardiola’s players only had five days off before the game started, others enjoyed three weeks of rest. All teams can expect to have a vacation for at least three weeks Club World Cup.
Earlier this month, England coach Thomas Tuchel said champions Liverpool and Arsenal finished second, gaining a “huge advantage” due to not participating in the U.S. Championships. Guardiola was asked about the English boss’s claim.
“I try not to think about it or I’ll be so anxious,” Guardiola said. “We’ll take a break from the Premier League that allows us to go. We’ll see. We’ll see. Maybe in November, December, January, ask me, happy. I don’t know, but this is the first time in our lives. [32-team CWC]. So we will see.
“So I’m trying to relax and enjoy the days here, the good resonance we have, the competition, trying to win the game. And the most important thing, recovering, finding or finding one’s life again. That’s my main goal in this game.”
Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said on weekends Championship winner will be “the worst ever” Due to the ruthless timeline. Klopp is now head of global football for Red Bull, and a team he overseen by Salzburg was eliminated in the group stage. Guardiola responded to the Germans.
“I know where his idea comes from,” he said. “We’ve called a lot [together] When we go to the European Union meeting [or] Especially when we discuss Premier League calendars, how to add more quality to it. [We discussed] Give managers and players more rest. So his comment [on the Club World Cup] I didn’t give me many surprises. I know him. I respect him. As a competitor, I have an incredible relationship with Jurgen.
“Now he’s back [as a manager] I understand his argument because I will defend his argument too. At the same time, as managers, we work. We follow the rules of FIFA, UEFA, Premier League.
“Many teams complain about these games because they’re not here or they might like to be here. They’ll have media and supporters here and they’ll be happy to come here and they’ll be happy to be here. Of course, this is not an ideal situation for managers. For next season, will I prepare for next season? Yes.
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Manchester City kicked off against Al-Hilal at 9pm local time, when the prediction was for rain and potentially stopping the lightning in the game. Guardiola laughed.
“I’m an extraordinary manager, but I’m still not good enough to control lightning and thunder,” he said.
Al-Hilal’s captain Salem Al-Dawsari and No. 9 Aleksandar Mitrović were unable to obtain due to injury.
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