Manuel Pellegrini finds it “unbelievable” the Premier League refused to move forward Manchester City’s late kick-off at Southampton on Sunday, before their Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.
City play Real next Wednesday evening at the Bernabéu having drawn Tuesday’s opening leg 0-0. Pellegrini’s side travel to Southampton for a 4.30pm start and the manager said he was at loss after being told by Ferran Soriano, the chief executive, and Txiki Begiristain, the director of football, that the Premier League would not help England’s last representatives in the competition.
“For me it is unbelievable,” Pellegrini said. “If you see other leagues, including Italy, the teams that play Champions League play their domestic games on a Friday, so I think it’s better for English football, because if you don’t continue in the Champions League – and I’m not talking just about Manchester City – maybe we are going to lose a spot for the next Champions League. So we are representing England.”
This weekend the other three Champions League semi-finalists – Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid are contesting the other tie – are playing on Saturday.
The Chilean was unsure why the Premier League refused City’s request. “I cannot answer you because I didn’t ask,” he said. “It was the club, they do the conversation with the Premier League. So I don’t know why the reason is they couldn’t do it. Finally, Ferran and Txiki told me it was impossible to change it.”
Zinedine Zidane’s Real team kick off at 4pm local time on Saturday against Real Sociedad. Pellegrini said: “I think it’s important not to give any advantage to the other team but also you need three days to recover. We are going to have those three days, also we are playing late on Sunday, in the last kick-off. But at least we are going to have three days to recover.
“It’s not the best thing – if you can have four days it’s better – and I think the mentality should be not to give any advantage to your rivals.”
David Silva is unavailable for Southampton and Real. “David has a small hamstring injury. He will need two or three weeks to recover. He will play in the final [if reached],” said Pellegrini, though Yaya Touré may be fit after a muscle problem. “Yaya starts working today [Friday]. We will see in the way he improves over the weekend if he can be fit for Wednesday. In this moment we don’t know but he has some options.”
Pellegrini also said he has been impressed by Joe Hart’s form. “Joe’s had a very good season so far. He is an important goalkeeper in my three years here. Maybe he has some problems in the first year [and was dropped] but he reacted well and showed what a good professional he is. I’m very happy for him.
“That was very important for him in that moment [being left out]. Some players have a bad reaction but he recognised it and started working very hard. He improved in these three years working with us a lot.”
