Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has taken a firm stance on his club’s demanding end-of-season schedule, insisting there will be no excuses if his side falls short in the Premier League title race.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the 55-year-old Spaniard acknowledged the difficulty of City’s upcoming fixture pile-up but was unequivocal in his refusal to blame the calendar. “It is what it is. When we won the treble and the quadruple, we always had this kind of calendar,” Guardiola said. “Of course, it could be better, but I’ve never expected help. We’ll do that and go game by game.”
City currently sit three points behind league leaders Arsenal with one month of the Premier League campaign remaining. The pressure on Guardiola’s squad is compounded by a particularly gruelling stretch between May 13 and 19, during which the club must play three fixtures in just seven days. That run includes an FA Cup final against Chelsea on May 16, with two league matches sandwiched around it.
Reports had suggested the club expressed dissatisfaction over the rescheduling of fixtures against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, though Guardiola did not pursue that line of argument publicly. Instead, he drew on his long experience of English football to contextualise the workload. “If you don’t like it, go and train in France or Portugal. I like being here, and I’ve said many times, when I was at Barcelona and saw managers here complain about the schedule, it has always been like this.”
The stakes are particularly high heading into Monday’s match against Everton. Should Arsenal defeat Fulham on Saturday, City could find themselves six points behind Mikel Arteta’s side before they even kick off — a deficit that would substantially narrow their title hopes with limited games remaining. The gap is tight enough that goal difference may yet prove decisive in determining the final standings.
Guardiola remained measured when addressing the overall situation. “It’s normal, it’s the calendar. Sometimes you play first, sometimes behind. It is what it is, and nothing changes. At this stage, you know exactly what you have to do.”
City’s pursuit of a potential seventh Premier League title under Guardiola comes after a turbulent 2024/25 season in which the club endured one of their most inconsistent campaigns of his tenure. A strong resurgence this term had kept them firmly in contention, but the final month now represents their most demanding test of the season in both volume and consequence.
Arsenal, meanwhile, continue to show the consistency that has defined their campaign, with Arteta’s side having maintained a slim but persistent advantage over their rivals through the majority of the run-in. How both clubs navigate the closing fixtures — City in particular given the triple fixture burden — is likely to define where the title ultimately lands.
