Moments of rest could be the difference
ON January 23 last year as Pep Guardiola sat down with the media at Bristol City, he seemed less than delighted about making his first final in charge of City.
There would be plenty of time for that, but in the immediate aftermath of a lung-busting Kevin de Bruyne goal in the 95th minute there was a sense of annoyance about how much effort had been needed over the two legs to put the Championship side away.
City’s coach, not used to competing for so many competitions, didn’t know how much of a drain the third cup would have on his players.
If it is impossible to know how much it did take out of them, the feeling of lifting the trophy at Wembley helped the team kick on in the Premier League and helped sell the competition to Guardiola.
To fast-forward 12 months, January 23 should see a delighted visiting coach take his seat at the Pirelli Stadium to celebrate another final as the majority of his first-team stars put their feet up at home. The positivity generated from beating Liverpool at the beginning of the month was tempered by seeing Jurgen Klopp’s team beaten by Wolves in the FA Cup in their next game.
On the one hand it showed that the league leaders are not as indestructible as they looked before they came to the Etihad, putting more pressure on their trip to Brighton this weekend. On the other, a very good team that already has a fourpoint lead at the top of the league has a far lighter schedule for the second half of the season than the Blues do. Leicester and Chelsea have shown in recent years the benefit of a stronger focus on the Premier League.
Out of the League Cup and FA Cup and with a tricky Champions League tie against Bayern Munich to come, Liverpool have far fewer obstacles in their route to the title.
As well as being rather good at football, they should be more rested than City for almost every game between now and the end of the season.
The Blues, though, have blasted their own space in the schedule. By demolishing Burton 9-0, Guardiola can take a host of youngsters for the second leg to allow for stronger teams in the games either side, the aim will be similar (even if the scoreline won’t be anywhere near as emphatic) for the Champions League last-16 tie with Schalke, with a potential FA Cup quarterfinal coming immediately after the second leg.
They may not seem like much, but those brief moments of rest could be just enough for City to keep themselves charged enough to challenge on every front.