Bernardo Silva says Manchester City went into their clash with Arsenal at a disadvantage due to match scheduling, adding: ‘It is just not right. It cannot happen.’
The big game of the Premier League weekend saw the Gunners host City at the Emirates and the points were shared after late drama.
Erling Haaland put the visitors ahead after just nine minutes and Manchester City remained ahead until the 93rd when substitute Gabriel Martinelli scored the equaliser.
It was disappointing for Pep Guardiola’s side to lose their long-held lead so late on and Silva was unhappy after the contest, but said it was not because of the result, instead because of the team’s schedule.
City were in Champions League action against Napoli in Manchester on Thursday night, beating the Italian champions 2-0.
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Arsenal also had a Champions League engagement last week, but their trip to Athletic Club was on Tuesday, so even though they had to travel to Bilbao, they had notably more rest than Manchester City.
Silva raged against the scheduling after the draw in north London, saying it is particularly scandalous ahead of a huge match between title contenders.
‘I am saying this because we didn’t lose … if we lost, I wouldn’t say this, but the reality is we cannot come to one of the most important games in the season with such a disadvantage in terms of rest,’ said Silva. ‘It is not fair to play one of these games like this. It is just not right. It cannot happen.
‘I wasn’t feeling in a perfect condition to play like this and people who have not played at the highest level don’t know how it feels to play a game like this. You need to be at your best condition. We saw [Abdukodir] Khusanov getting injured because these games demand a lot.
‘It is just frustrating that we couldn’t be at our best level simply because of the decision of someone that thinks it is fair to come away after two and a half less days than Arsenal.
‘I felt the difference in the first half. If you play at the highest level you know that two days [of rest] playing against one of the best teams in the league, away, with the travel … you need at least one more day to recover. It doesn’t matter if Arsenal had four, five or six days, just give us one more day and then you make it an even game.’
Silva continued on his rant, adding: ‘I understand you have different competitions. And UEFA, the Premier League and the broadcasters want to make their money. We don’t mind playing every three or four days and we don’t mind playing 60 games because we are used to that. But what we ask for is common sense because this is one of the biggest games of the season.
‘And it is not about us. I don’t think that they are trying to make us lose a game. It could happen to Arsenal or Liverpool in a few months. But when you are playing an Arsenal v City or City v Liverpool or Liverpool v Arsenal, you need to have a bit of common sense, an understanding of these situations.
‘Even if we were in better physical conditions, it would have been a very difficult game. We can lose any game in good conditions or bad conditions but we need the respect and the common sense to be at the same level to compete.’
Guardiola also felt his players were very tired, not helped by a few injuries early in the season.
‘Arsenal were better and we were incredibly tired,’ Guardiola told Sky Sports. ‘Sometimes people don’t realise, the game against Napoli in the Champions League was so emotional, after that a recovery day and the day after you have to go four, five hours (to London).
‘Maybe you don’t know, you live in London, you have that privilege but the people who live in the north, they have four, five hours to arrive in London, it’s more fatigue and everything.
‘And guys, it’s a team that fought for the last two Premier Leagues to win it, arrive semi-finals of Champions League. It’s not just Man City who invest money, they did it as well. It’s so tough.’
He added: ‘We have a lot of fatigue with the same players, you know how many injured. John [Stones] comes back injured for the national team. We have [Rayan] Cherki, we have [Rayan] Ait-Nouri, Nathan [Ake] has been out. A lot of players maybe forget the rhythm because they have been injured.’
