Pep Guardiola says Manchester City must adapt to the artificial surface when they face Swiss side Young Boys on Wednesday evening.
The holders will play on unfamiliar terrain in their latest Champions League outing on Wednesday when they take on Young Boys on their synthetic pitch at the Wankdorf Stadium.
Guardiola insists there are no complaints on his part, and he has changed his team’s routine to ensure they are prepared.
Normally City do not take up the option available to them of training at the stadium when they play away games in Europe, instead preferring to work in Manchester before travelling.
However, on this occasion City flew to Bern on Tuesday morning and had a run out on the pitch in the evening.
Yet the City manager could not hide the feeling that he would prefer to be playing on a natural surface.
Speaking at a press conference, the Spaniard said: “It is what it is. If UEFA allows games to be played here it’s because it’s in good conditions.
“That’s one of the reasons we never train away but this is an exception. This is why we travel in the morning for the players to feel how the ball runs, how to move left, right, backwards, forwards. That’s why.
“We’ll try it and the players will know it immediately.”
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Asked if he was concerned about injuries, Guardiola said: “I don’t know – hopefully not, for both sides, but I don’t know.
“We are not used to it. Any team that plays here is not used to it. It suits the Swiss league and, in the Champions League, the teams that come here have to adapt.
“We will not be the first in this situation. We have to use it as a benefit but the grass is better.”
Asked why, Guardiola said: “Because 99.9 per
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