Pep Guardiola has revealed Manchester City are affected by travel problems during one of their most hectic periods of the season.
City have four away games in less than a fortnight, with Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup trip to Newcastle followed by a Premier League clash with Wolves, a Champions League outing to Leipzig and then another league game against Arsenal.
Guardiola’s men would normally travel back by train or plane to minimise time on the road but neither is available on Wednesday.
“We cannot come back by plane because we don’t have planes to travel back so we have to take a bus, it’s two, three hours later, we arrive here so, so late,” said the Catalan.
“Then Friday we have to travel to Wolves. We go to Germany to play Champions League, it’s a really, really important game for us because we know what it means to be able to win there for qualification for the next stage. This is what we have to do.”
Guardiola admits he will have to play several players he would rather rest because of injury and suspension issues in midfield, while he does not feel he can call on academy products.
“We cannot take a few of them because we sell a lot of them and still they are not ready to play with us,” he said. “That’s why I have to give time to them to develop. They are still so young to play Newcastle away.”
One player who will start is Kalvin Phillips, who impressed Guardiola after coming on against Nottingham Forest last weekend.
It will be just a fifth start for the midfielder since his move from Leeds last summer, where his performances under Marcelo Bielsa persuaded City to sign him.
“I think Marcelo gave Kalvin the best of Kalvin in his career,” said Guardiola. “I would love to have done with Kalvin what Marcelo has done to him. But it’s where he is.
“We have a specific way to play. Sometimes he struggles with a few things, but the previous game was perfect. He’s open-minded, he always wants to learn, always wants to help and this is what I try to do.”
Guardiola named “exhausted” Kyle Walker as one player he will rest but, whatever team he puts out, he expects a better performance than the one that saw City dumped out of the competition by Southampton in the quarter-finals last season.
“What we don’t want to do is perform not who we are in terms of the principles and who we are as a team, which happened last season against Southampton,” he said.
“That’s the worst game I’ve had as manager of Man City, by far. I didn’t recognise anything about that. You can lose, of course, credit to Southampton in that game, but you have to meet a minimum and this is what I want from my team in every single game, every single competition.
“And tomorrow it’s going to happen, I’m pretty sure of that.”
Guardiola 'happy' Man City hearing begins next week
Pep Guardiola says he is "happy" Manchester City's hearing into 115 charges for alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules begins on Monday.
Following a four-year investigation, the club were charged and referred to an independent commission in February 2023.
Man City strongly deny all charges.
The alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules relate to a period between 2009 and 2018, with the trial expected to run for 10 weeks and a verdict likely to come in early 2025.
While some are dubbing it sport's 'trial of the century', Guardiola is just pleased that it is now close to the start date.
"It starts soon and hopefully finishes soon," Guardiola said of the hearing. "An independent panel will decide, and I am looking forward to the decision.
"I'm happy it's starting on Monday. I know there will be more rumours, new specialists about the sentences. We're going to see.
"I know what people are looking forward to, what they expect, I know what I read for many, many years.
"Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. So, we'll see."
On the pitch, City are beginning a busy period that will see them play seven games before the October international break.
With the start of their Champions League campaign and their EFL Cup third-round tie scheduled between their Premier League matches, Guardiola said he would not be using the hectic calendar as an excuse.
"It is going to happen many times when teams play in all competitions," he added.
"We will do our job anyway because we love to do it. I'm not a specialist about the calendar. We follow it. Everyone knows the schedule will be tight this season, so you just have to accept it."
They will have to play those games without defender Nathan Ake, who was stretchered off during the Netherlands’ Nations League meeting with Germany.
"We are unlucky with Nathan - every time he goes there [to play for the Netherlands] he comes back injured," Guardiola said.
"I think it will be until the next international break."
City's next game is at home to Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday as they look to continue their perfect start to the campaign.
PSG taking new Champions League format in their stride, says Luis Enrique
Paris Saint-Germain begin their latest quest for Champions League glory next week, but the extra workload required in the competition this season will not change Luis Enrique's approach.
PSG face Brest in Ligue 1 on Saturday, having made a perfect start to the season with three wins from three games to sit two points clear of Marseille, Nantes, Monaco and Lens.
They then face Girona in the first of eight matches in the Champions League's league phase on Wednesday, with the competition's new-look first round running until January.
However, Luis Enrique's approach to managing his squad's workload will remain the same.
He told reporters: "It's true, the schedule is a bit different but I don't think it is going to change the way I work as a coach.
"I have principles that I think are best for the team. It is always good to have around 20 players who think they can play, rather than 12 or 13. That is something that has always produced the best results for me.
"Now we are playing every three days with an intense schedule. I am still calm. Of course players can get injuries or suspensions but I am confident that we can manage all of that this season."
Midfielders Vitinha and Warren Zaire-Emery are unlikely to feature on Saturday after picking up injuries while representing Portugal and France during the international break.
PSG could also be without Gianluigi Donnarumma after the goalkeeper became a father and Luis Enrique has yet to make a decision on the Italian's involvement.
Bradley Barcola has excelled for PSG this term, netting as many goals in their first three league games (four) as he managed in the entirety of 2023-24.
He was also on target for France versus Italy last week, but Luis Enrique is keen to avoid putting pressure on the 22-year-old, saying: "It would be easy to protect the players without journalists.
"Right now everyone is talking about Barcola. People said he couldn't play in the past, that he wasn't ready for the Champions League. But we're lucky that he is very sensible, humble and hard-working.
"In the season there are highs and lows for everyone and we have to manage that. The press always want something black or white, but that is not how it is."
Vinicius backed to return to best form by Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti is unconcerned about Vinicius Junior's current form and fully expects him to bounce back quickly as they prepare to face Real Sociedad.
Vinicius has scored once and registered one assist in LaLiga so far this season, while he has created 15 chances, the most of any of his team-mates.
However, he has been criticised for a slow start to the season with Madrid, and for lacklustre performances for Brazil in a narrow win over Ecuador and a shock loss to Paraguay during the international break.
Ancelotti acknowledged that Vinicius has yet to hit the heights of his previous seasons, but stressed that the player needs support.
"He's not at his best, but he's still very important for us," Ancelotti told a press conference on Friday.
"We're in no hurry because the team has managed to score, and he has been important... and the last concern for me is Vinicius' condition, but we have to take good care of him.
"He always works well, and it's a matter of just time for him to reach his best level. I can't fool myself into thinking that I'll have all players at 100% at all times.
"I don't want to go into his problems in Brazil, but what I see is a more general issue, because they are not managing to bring out their best version as a group.
"Here we are delighted with Vinicius because although he is not at his best right now, no one can forget that with Vini, we have been able to win two Champions League titles... We have to be very fond of him at Madrid."
Ancelotti said that he will have to evaluate the fitness of Vinicius and his Brazil team-mates Rodrygo and Endrick after a long trip back from international duty, in order to minimise the risks of injury as his side gear up for a busy schedule with seven games in the next three weeks.
The Italian will face a selection headache ahead of Saturday's clash at La Real with defender David Alaba and midfielders Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos and Aurelien Tchouameni still recovering from injuries.
"With the way the calendar is built, we will have injuries, it is just the way it is, so rotating is a good thing," Ancelotti added.
"We are used to playing that many games but need to be vigilant in monitoring the players' fatigue so they can rest when they need.
"The players who have just come back from the international break, like Vinicius, Rodrygo and Endrick, who had long travels with Brazil, are under observation because they haven't had time to rest or train.
"We have to try to avoid injuries. Last year we had a lot of injuries, but we managed to cope very well. With this schedule, it's normal to have injuries, and we have to face it."
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