Yes, Manchester City will go into tomorrow’s Champions League showdown with Tottenham having had four days’ less rest after beating Brighton .
Yes, Spurs will feel their first win at their new £1billion stadium last week will give them the edge.
Kevin De Bruyne, however, can’t wait to get to the new White Hart Lane.
After setting up Gabriel Jesus to head City into the FA Cup Final, the Belgium midfielder was left bemused by talk that the arena could give Spurs the edge. “I don’t care about the stadium,” he said.
“I care about the team we play. Everybody talks about the stadium like it is something special.
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“Everybody has a stadium. Everybody has supporters. They’ll be up for it. I don’t think there will be any difference.
“They’ll probably be a little bit more excited but in the end it’s a stadium with supporters.
“If they go to Wembley with 80,000 or there with 62,000, it’s going to be the same. It’ll be a tough game but I think we’ll be all right.
“It’s about focusing on Tuesday. We know Spurs have had a rest and we try to be ready.” Having reeled off wins in 22 of their last 23 games in all competitions City have the Carabao Cup under their belts and the Quadruple is still on.
“It’s not bad,” said De Bruyne. “We need to keep going because in the end if we don’t make it you guys will say we failed!”
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While that may have been a bit of stretch from the Belgian, there is no doubt a fully-fit De Bruyne is an awesome weapon for City, his pinpoint cross for the winner the perfect example of why his vision is so vital. “I just try to play it in that area,” he smiled.
“There’s no point playing that ball high because they’re probably three feet taller than everybody else! Better play it in between the defender and striker.”
City were criticised for not producing another of their displays of shock and awe – crazy when at this stage of the season it really is victory that matters, not artistic impression.
“Cup games are different.” De Bruyne went on. “If you’re not at your best it doesn’t really matter, just try to see the game out. You can’t play 70 games at your top level. I think we did really well.”
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They did indeed. The Quad squad see no point in keeping tabs on title rivals Liverpool with their own business to take care of. Hence De Bruyne’s decision not to take in the Reds’ win at Southampton on Friday night.
“We cannot do anything about it,” he said. “They won, they were probably expected to win, so that’s it. I didn’t watch.”
So back to that four-timer? Not for De Bruyne.
“There’s no point thinking about it,” he said. “You know how heavy the schedule is?
“People underestimate how the fixtures come so quickly. We don’t even have time to have a rest ourselves so how can we think about what’s going to happen in four weeks?”
