Abhay Singh
Manchester City is set to face Inter Milan in the Champions League, marking the start of an expanded tournament that will be challenging for the 2023 winners.
The match will be City’s first experience of the competition’s new format, where 36 teams compete in one table and play eight fixtures each, instead of the traditional six-match group stage.
“It’s getting more complicated with the league”
The additional strain the new model will put on players during a demanding season that will culminate with Guardiola’s team competing in the Club World Cup in the United States has the City defender Manuel Akanji disliking it.
He said “It’s getting more complicated with the league. You play different teams, and then Inter don’t have the same opponents as us. It’s just got bigger, more games,”
He also added “Then we have the Club World Cup at the end of the season. It’s just game after game and I don’t know how it will work out over the next couple of years. It’s so tough, you don’t just think about this season but also next season. When do we do holidays? There are no breaks in winter.”
“If we are lucky we get two weeks and then we need to be back and into next season. There’s
no end to it. I don’t know how it works out.
Maybe I’ll retire at 30!” He concluded.
“I’m looking forward to it, even with the new format,”
“I’m looking forward to it, even with the new format,” said Akanji.
“I think the old one was better but we go up against the best teams still and we start with a great game against Inter. The last time we played them was in the final, so good memories for us.” He added.
Real Madrid ultimately prevailed in the Champions League final, ending City’s title defense. The Spanish team did this after a quarter final penalty shootout in Manchester.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings