“I have a HUGE list to show you!” – Pep Guardiola shuts down potential Arsenal tiredness excuse following Atalanta trip | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has insisted he has a “huge list” of examples when Manchester City have been asked to travel into Europe before returning to domestic duties with little rest.

City come into their third successive home match having completed matchday one of their UEFA Champions League duties on Wednesday night, held to a 0-0 draw by their 2023 final opponents Inter Milan.

As for Sunday afternoon’s opponents in Arsenal, they will have the added challenge of less recovery time for the weekend’s Premier League battle, as well as having to travel back from Bergamo following their own 0-0 draw on matchday one against Atalanta.

Some of an Arsenal persuasion have been hugely critical of the short turnaround between matches, however Manchester City’s manager has been less sympathetic when asked for his thoughts on the matter this week.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of City’s meeting with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, Pep Guardiola was happy to admit that the extra rest for his side over their opponents would be an advantage for them.

However, the 54-year-old continued by insisting that he would be able to provide a “huge list” of examples over his eight seasons at the club where Manchester City have been asked to fulfil a similar routine of matches.

“It’s an advantage,” Guardiola said. “But I’m going to make a list in the last six years how many times we had this disadvantage against tough opponents, when we had less days of recovery. I have a HUGE list to show you! But of course, it is a little bit of an advantage.”

Manchester City will be hoping for improvements in front of goal on Sunday afternoon, having failed to convert a number of late chances during the close exchanges of their meeting with Inter in midweek.

With the scoreline level at 0-0 heading into the final 15 minutes, Ilkay Gundogan was presented with two headed chances to claim all three points, whilst Phil Foden’s return to action could also have been more fruitful.