Pep Guardiola is relishing the prospect of his Manchester City players being forced to get changed in the stadium bar before Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Cheltenham Town, but has no particular thirst for a European 'Super League'.
City's superstar squad will put on kits and lace their boots in one of the hospitality areas at Whaddon Road, as part of the League Two club's adaptation to abide by COVID-19 protocols.
Guardiola just had one stipulation to ensure his men are not tempted by a pre-match tipple.
"Please, only I ask to Cheltenham do not leave beers in the bar before the game," he joked.
"We will be delighted to change in the bar, but no alcohol there because we want to win the game and be in perfect condition."
For the City boss, it will be an experience to recall his first steps in coaching, when he led Barcelona B in the fourth tier of Spanish football.
And he was keen to point out that the pampered millionaire lifestyle is something no one experiences when starting out in the game.
"Of course," he replied when asked if he had ever experienced anything similar.
"Everyone comes from the lower divisions, my friend. Or do you believe when we are under-16 or under-18 we fly in private jets?
"We play in these stadiums all our careers, we don't play in big stadiums all the time. We came from [places like] Cheltenham. People cannot forget that, and it is a pleasure to play there.
"We were lucky to have success in our profession and go up the divisions, but we were there many times and we changed in bars as boys and we played football with incredible joy.
"We love this game and we change in these changing rooms for most of our careers, most of the time."
Nevertheless, Guardiola offered a stark warning to any stakeholders in the game who fail to nurture competitions lower down the pyramid.
"I have the feeling we cannot lose the local leagues," he said. "What we should do is make every single league in Europe stronger than what it is.
"To make a super Premier League, you have to reduce the teams. But we cannot kill the lower divisions or the Premier League itself.
"I want to protect the local leagues. I like to play against Leicester, Brighton, Burnley, Arsenal, West Brom, Liverpool...I love it."
Guardiola's other note of caution related to player burnout, in a week where he lost star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
"I didn't read the paper [about the Super League] that you comment on, but I'm sure there will be more games – they are not going to reduce it," he added.
"All I can say is, let the players breathe a bit more, to recover better and make a better performance to make more spectators come back when they return to the stadiums or in front of the TV.
"More goals and action to make our sport better. This will only happen if players are fitter and feel more comfortable with the amount of games."
I don’t expect political statements from Germany team -Thomas Hitzlsperger
German players are unlikely to make any major political statements at Euro 2024 after their World Cup protest in Qatar was met with a tepid domestic reception, ex-international Thomas Hitzlsperger has predicted.
Seven European nations at the 2022 global showpiece – including England – initially planned to wear ‘OneLove’ anti-discrimination armbands but were dissuaded following the threat of sporting sanctions from FIFA.
Instead, the Germans covered their mouths for a World Cup team photograph in protest, while the tournament remained overshadowed by the host nation’s record on human rights, from its treatment of migrant workers to the criminalisation of same-sex relationships.
Hitzlsperger, who bookended his playing career with spells at Aston Villa and Everton and a decade ago became the first former Premier League player to come out as gay, said: “It ended for the German team not in a good way. Funnily enough, back home a lot of people criticised it whereas abroad it was seen as a big statement.
“After the tournament, some of the representatives of the German national team just said, ‘look, at the Euros we talk about football, nothing else’. So I don’t expect much from the team similar to the World Cup.
“I think the England team were the first ones to play, and they decided against the One Love armband. A lot of the German players, they felt a responsibility, they felt ‘we’ve got to make a statement’.
“They couldn’t rely on the other teams. I think there were seven teams in the end that tried to stick together and wear the armband, and then they all collapsed, basically. And that’s when the Germans were like, ‘We still have to do something’.”
The former midfielder, who is now serving as an ambassador for this summer’s tournament in his home country, agrees that Germany’s poor showing likely influenced negative sentiment around the protest.
He said: “Football can be brutal. If you win, you set the tone and whatever you do it’s accepted and people look up to you. If you don’t win, you lose football matches, then you better not say anything.”
Even before the tournament, said the 42-year-old, the German public was already divided over whether or not the national team – or anyone – had a responsibility to act.
“It was a very difficult debate and it never came to a conclusion,” said Hitzlsperger.
“Some said it’s too much politics, others said it was right what we did, and that’s where we ended. That was our opportunity to say ‘we’re hosting a European Championship, let’s have a really good time together’, talk about responsibility when it comes to sustainability but don’t teach the world what to do.”
Organisers hope the tournament itself will instead do the talking, with ambitions to become be the most sustainable European Championship of all time through the use of entirely pre-existing stadia run by 100 per cent renewable energy sources, a zoned match schedule reducing travel distances for teams and fans, and the creation of a climate fund dedicated to projects focused on mitigating tournament-related unavoidable emissions.
It is also the second major football tournament, following in the footsteps of last summer’s Women’s World Cup, to sign a human rights declaration.
UEFA has stated EURO 2024 “embraces gender identities and expressions as a spectrum that is not limited to a binary concept”, with gender-neutral toilets available at all venues and similarly neutral lanes outside the stadia to accommodate a range of gender expressions for procedures like body checks.
Ultimately, says Hitzlsperger, “the German FA, UEFA, the German government and the foreign ministry, (will do) everything we can do, without putting the team under too much pressure to say ‘every game you have to make a statement’.
“You have to know who is responsible for what, and unfortunately what happened in Qatar really made the players aware of the consequences if you take a stance on human rights.”
Feyenoord coach Arne Slot in contention to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool
Feyenoord coach Arne Slot has emerged as a leading candidate to succeed Jurgen Klopp when he leaves as Liverpool manager at the end of the campaign.
Slot guided the Dutch club to their first title in six years last season and currently has them in second place in the Eredivisie table having won the Dutch Cup at the weekend.
The PA news agency understands Liverpool consider Slot to fit all the criteria set out in their recruitment process, although they are still looking at other contenders.
Gian Piero Gasperini talks up Atalanta’s ‘extraordinary’ season
Atalanta head coach Gian Piero Gasperini acknowledges that his club are enjoying a “fantastic” season after reaching two semi-finals and challenging for Champions League qualification from Serie A.
But the campaign’s business end has now arrived, with Atalanta putting their Coppa Italia hopes on the line in Wednesday’s semi-final second leg against Fiorentina.
They have a Europa League semi-final against Marseille ahead of them next month, but their first task is to try and overturn a 1-0 deficit when Fiorentina arrive in Bergamo.
“This year is extraordinary,” Gasperini told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Now let’s see in the next matches between the Italian Cup and the recoveries. The season is fantastic, now we are in the final verdicts.”
Asked if the season would only be a good one if Atalanta win a trophy, he added: “Winners only if you win a trophy? No, it’s idiocy.
“We each have to reach our own goals, otherwise we would all be losers in life and that’s not how it works. I consider myself lucky for what I’ve done in the various places I’ve been in.”
Atalanta’s solitary Coppa Italia success in the final came 61 years ago with a 3-1 victory over Torino, and they have lost on four successive return visits.
Fiorentina, meanwhile, last lifted the trophy in 2001, and they head to Bergamo on the back of a 2-0 Serie A win against Salernitana.
Andrea Belotti, Nico Gonzalez, Luca Beltran and Giacomo Bonaventura all missed that game with knocks, but should return in an anticipated much-changed team.
Gasperini also rotated his squad for the league clash against Monza, but he is likely to field a more familiar starting XI, with Gianluca Scamacca and Marten de Roon among those recalled.
Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano said: “We have the merit of arriving in May and still being in certain matches, which cannot allow us to switch off.
“We must all be ready and motivated to give 100 per cent, because in these close matches it doesn’t take much to not being able to perform at our best. But we all have guys who always respond when called upon.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
