Guardiola refuses to play due to his anger over fixture scheduling

Pep Guardiola has threatened to refuse to play ball with broadcasters ahead of the FA Cup final because of his anger over fixture scheduling.

The Manchester City manager tore into the authorities after reaching the final at Wembley on Saturday, calling it ‘unacceptable’ that they were asked to play 66 hours after the Champions League loss to Real Madrid.

Guardiola suggested he will refuse voluntary broadcast duties before next month’s final, which will be on both ITV and the BBC.

‘I always attend the media because I represent this institution,’ the Spaniard said. ‘But if they ask for extra then no, I don’t have time. If they ask for a photoshoot for the broadcasters, I’ll say no I’m busy, I don’t have time.’

Guardiola also said he will have to store his players ‘in the fridge’ to mitigate tiredness in the wake of their fixture schedule complaints, as they face Brighton on Thursday.

‘The players go to the fridge for two days,’ he said. ‘Don’t see each other, stay at home with your families. Try to rest, nothing special. Then two days to prepare.’

Bernardo Silva, who got on the end of Kevin De Bruyne’s cutback to score the winner against Chelsea, had barely slept a wink on Wednesday night.

Visions of Andriy Lunin gratefully catching his meek penalty, over and over, the defining image of City’s Champions League shootout defeat by Real Madrid.

While Silva might have needed to score at Wembley for himself, he certainly did not need to for his team-mates or manager. Everybody at City knows how much the Portuguese has sacrificed over seven seasons.

The problem for Silva, when he has asked to leave, is he has made himself too valuable. The club who say any player can go for the right price have bent their own rules.

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