عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Man City Will Adapt to Busy Week, Guardiola Says

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Brentford at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on September 14, 2024. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Brentford at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on September 14, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Man City Will Adapt to Busy Week, Guardiola Says

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Brentford at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on September 14, 2024. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Brentford at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on September 14, 2024. (AFP)

Manchester City will adjust to a demanding week ahead by using their academy players, manager Pep Guardiola said before the start of their Champions League campaign.

Guardiola's side are bracing for a whirlwind, as an independent hearing into City´s alleged 115 breaches of Premier League financial regulations is set to begin on Monday, two days before they host Serie A champions Inter Milan in the Champions League.

City will then host Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday and Watford in the third round of the League Cup next Tuesday. Guardiola said his side will need to acclimatize to the season ahead, in which they are projected to play about 75 games.

Many City players, including Kevin De Bruyne, Manuel Akanji, and Bernardo Silva, have voiced concerns about the crammed calendar this season with an expanded Champions League format and the Club World Cup.

"I have no opinion (on the format)," Guardiola told reporters. "UEFA decided this and we want to be there so we will play that format.

"Yes, there are more games (in the calendar), but it is what it is. What can we do? On Wednesday, we play the best team in Italy then on Sunday we play best contender of last two seasons.

"Then Tuesday another game. We have an Academy. We have to adapt and go. I like to play Champions League, so we are going to play."

All three European club competitions have been expanded to 36 teams this season and FIFPRO's European member unions have started legal action against FIFA over the expanded men's 32-team Club World Cup, starting next June in the United States.

Last season, England recorded the highest number of domestic back-to-back matches, 87, among top European leagues, with Premier League clubs averaging the shortest recovery time between games at 67.3 hours.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Zheng Loses to No 97 Siegemund, Osaka Rallies to Advance at Australian Open

Germany's Laura Siegemund (L) shakes hands with China's Zheng Qinwen after the women's singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15, 2025. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)
Germany's Laura Siegemund (L) shakes hands with China's Zheng Qinwen after the women's singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15, 2025. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)
TT
TT

Zheng Loses to No 97 Siegemund, Osaka Rallies to Advance at Australian Open

Germany's Laura Siegemund (L) shakes hands with China's Zheng Qinwen after the women's singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15, 2025. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)
Germany's Laura Siegemund (L) shakes hands with China's Zheng Qinwen after the women's singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15, 2025. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

Distracted by a time penalty and unable to counteract No. 97-ranked Laura Siegemund's aggressive approach, Zheng Qinwen's loss in the second round Wednesday fell a long way short of last year's run to the Australian Open final.
Zheng lost the 2024 decider at Melbourne Park to Aryna Sabalenka and went on to win the Olympic gold medal in Paris and finish runner-up at the WTA Finals in a breakout season.
But her first tournament of the year ended in a 7-6 (3), 6-3 loss on John Cain Arena against 36-year-old Siegemund, who attacked from the first point and put Zheng off her game.
Zheng needed a change of shoes early in the second set, got a time warning on her serve from the chair umpire — she said she couldn't clearly see the clock — and was worried about some minor issues which sidelined her before the Australian Open.
“I feel maybe today is not my day. There’s a lot of details in the important points. I didn’t do the right choice,” The Associated Press quoted Zheng as saying.
Of a weak serve that bounced before the net, Zheng said the time warning from the umpire “obviously that one really distracted me from the match.”
“This is my fourth year in the tour, and never happen that to me.”
Both of last year's women's finalists were playing at the same time on nearby courts.
Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, extended her run to 16 wins at Melbourne Park by winning the last five games to beat No. 54-ranked Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 7-5.
Naomi Osaka, another two-time Australian Open champion, reached the third round of a major for the first time since 2022 when she weathered an early barrage from US Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova before rallying to win 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Osaka lost in the first round here last year to Caroline Garcia in her comeback from maternity leave but avenged that with a first-round victory over Garcia this week.
Osaka said she used a loss to Muchova at the US Open as motivation.
“She crushed me in the US Open when I had my best outfit ever,” Osaka joked in a post-match interview. “I was so disappointed. I was so mad. This was my little revenge.”
Osaka will next meet Belinda Bencic, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist who is playing in her first major since the birth of her daughter, Bella, last year.
Also advancing were No. 7 Jessica Pegula, had a 6-4, 6-2 win over Elise Mertens, and 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the No. 14 seed who beat Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8).
The scoreline in Sabalenka's match didn't reflect the difficulty, with Bouzas Maneiro taking huge swipes at the ball in her Australian Open debut and dictating some of the points against the world No. 1-ranked player. Her serve let her down, with Sabalenka able to relieve some pressure on her own serve with five breaks.
No. 7 Jessica Pegula had a 6-4, 6-2 win over Elise Mertens to reach the third round, along with Belinda Bencic and 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the No. 14 seed who beat Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8).
Siegemund has never been past the third round in Australia, but is taking confidence from her big upset. Her only lapse was when she was broken serving for the first set. She recovered to dominate the tiebreaker, while Zheng remained too conservative in her tactics until right near the end.
“I knew I just had to play more than my best tennis. I had nothing to lose. I just told myself to swing free,” Siegemund said. Zheng is “an amazing player. One of the best players right now, but I know I can play well and I wanted to show that to myself.”
Third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, aiming to add the Australian Open title to complete a set of all four major crowns, advanced 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Yoshihito Nishioka.
“The less time you spend on the court in the Grand Slams, especially at the beginning of the tournament, it’s gonna be better, especially physically,” Alcaraz said. “I just try to be focused on spending as less time as I can,” on court.