Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola had a furious rant this past weekend, blasting the fixture schedule between continental and domestic competitions. With Mamelodi Sundowns playing Sekhukhune United on Tuesday and Esperance on Friday, can Rulani Mokwena make the same case for his side?
City managed a 1-0 win over Chelsea in the first semi-final of the FA Cup on Sunday. However, the Citizens' display looked slightly off the pace as they registered just three shots on target on the day.
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Despite getting the desired result, Guardiola was furious with the fact the match had taken place on the Saturday instead of Sunday, which was booked for the other semi-final, between Manchester United and Coventry City – two teams who had no UEFA Champions League football to play last week.
Speaking during a post-match interview with the BBC, the Spanish tactician said: "It's unacceptable! Because I've won, I have the courage to tell you. For the health of the players, it's not normal. I don't understand how we survived today. Why play today and not tomorrow, when Coventry, Chelsea, and United didn't play in the midweek? Why not have one more day for the health of the players? Tell me how you prepare this semi-final against Chelsea in the best moment of the season. How? It's impossible. There's no chance."
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Whether or not you agree with the City boss' furious rant, African giants Sundowns find themselves in a similar situation in terms of having a gruelling fixture calendar.
On Tuesday, they will face Sekhukhune in the DStv Premiership, with the match coming just three days after they lost 1-0 to Esperance in the first leg of their CAF Champions League semi-final.
To make matters even worse, they only have another three days after the Sekhukhune match to prepare for Friday's CAFCL semi-final second leg against the Tunisian giants.
For now, Mokwena is yet to launch into a rant like Guardiola's, although it would be easy to see why he would be frustrated by such a congested fixture list. In fact, the travel demands in Africa are arguably more tiresome than in Europe, with the trip from Tunis to Johannesburg being about 14 hours and 25 minutes long, according to Google Flights.
While Downs are often envied for their incredible squad depth, the reality is that the coaching staff don't have a lot of time to prepare the team for matches, with very little time afforded between training, travel and resting.
By contrast, the Esperance player with the most appearances for the club this season is Yassine Meriah, who has played 28 games, per Transfermarkt. At Sundowns, meanwhile, nine players have played 28 games or more this term already, including Khuliso Mudau, Teboho Mokoena, Grant Kekana, and Marcelo Allende.
Perhaps what makes things even stranger is that Esperance landed in South Africa on Tuesday, and will have the luxury of watching their opponents play a league game just days prior to their meeting. It certainly would not be outside the realm of possibility for Mokwena to lose his cool over this scheduling issue, especially given that the PSL has shown little to no support regarding the matter.
Read: Opinion: Win or lose, FA Cup final is not enough to keep Ten Hag
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