Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola bemoans fixture congestion during USA tour: ‘Players will die’

NEW YORK — Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola complained about fixture congestion during the team’s preseason tour in the U.S. as the team prepares for what could be another 50-plus game season.

“Institutions like FIFA, UEFA, and Premier League don’t think about the players so the managers have to think about it,” he said in a press conference on Saturday. “Otherwise, they will die. It’s too much.”

City lost 3-2 to AC Milan in a preseason friendly at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, and though several key players like Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish started, a handful of the team’s stars were missing. That includes Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri, who reached the knockout stages of the Euros this summer and are still on vacation.

Guardiola has long been a critic of the schedules players face, especially at the top level. City played 59 games during the 2023-24 season, which included a run to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, the FA Cup final and the UEFA Super Cup, a reward for winning the Champions League at the end of the 2022-23 season.

The manager is one of the high-profile figures to speak on player load since FIFPRO Europe and the European Leagues filed a complaint against FIFA last week to the European Commission. The global players’ union and the continent’s top leagues allege that FIFA’s international match calendar is too saturated and not sustainable to ensure players can consistently perform at peak levels.

Despite being a constant critic, Guardiola seems resigned to the packed calendar being a reality for the immediate future.

“There’s no solution. Will not be [a] solution because there is no intention to be [a] solution,” he said.

Guardiola discussed complicating favors, like the desire for players to compete for their national teams in international competitions and for clubs to travel for preseason tours.

“The clubs have to travel, to make our brand around the world,” he said. “The Euros deserve to play, the national teams deserve to play. FIFA, UEFA, a lot of competitions, they want to defend this product and make games.”

Guardiola acknowledged that while the situation is far from perfect, it is not something City is unfamiliar with.

“The competition is there already and you have to adapt,” he said. “That’s the way it is and we have to adapt. [Did] not happen this season — happened for four, five, six, seven years. Every time, it’s the same and would have like to have the preparation, a proper one but this is impossible … We go like we had done like previous seasons that we had success, having the same calendar like this.”