Pep Guardiola Condemns Premier League Schedule

Pep Guardiola feels that the Premier League does not provide a fair schedule for Manchester City (Instagram/@mancity).

JAKARTA - Pep Guardiola has criticized the Premier League for scheduling Manchester City's match against Bournemouth.

The Citizens will play their second league match of the season at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, early morning WIB, or Tuesday, May 20, 2025, local time.

The match has been moved due to Manchester City's participation in the FA Cup final on Saturday, May 17, 2025, against Crystal Palace.

However, speaking to the media on Friday, May 16, 2025, Guardiola questioned why the match could not be played on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, local time (Thursday, May 22, 2025, WIB) to give its players 24 hours more rest time.

"Of course," Guardiola said when asked if he wanted to face Bournemouth on Wednesday or Thursday.

"I'd rather play on Wednesday, of course. It's going to be difficult. We've been battling this situation for nine years, every season and nothing has worked."

"We will play Tuesday night against the most intense, physical, direct, and powerful teams in the Premier League like Bournemouth, who plays for the Europa League qualifiers or UEFA Conference League. So, we have to deal with it," he said.

Guardiola is deeply frustrated by Manchester City's schedule after Tottenham Hotspur's match against Aston Villa was pushed forward ahead of the Europa League final.

Spurs were originally scheduled to face Villa on Sunday, May 18, 2025, but instead played at Villa Park on Friday, May 16, 2025, local time or Saturday, May 17, 2025, early morning WIB.

"Tottenham Hotspur played against Aston Villa on Friday ahead of the Europa League final."

"Good decision, I'm not insinuating. The Premier League makes a good decision, very good."

"We played all the time in the semifinals and quarter-finals on Wednesday and we played (again) on Saturday."

"This season we didn't play, we played on Sunday. We didn't need an additional one day while playing in that position," said Guardiola.