Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola said - on Friday - that competing in European competitions this season hurts clubs, because the harsh schedule leaves players with little time to recover between matches.
The Corona epidemic caused the season to start late in September, and the teams started their European career this week only, so the group stage matches will be held every week until the international period for the teams next month.
Guardiola described the match schedule as "crazy" and made it difficult to plan for Saturday's match against West Ham United in the Premier League.
The "philosopher" coach responded to a question about the major clubs affected by European participation, saying, "Certainly ... this competition is very difficult."
"Players who get 7 or 8 days between matches have more time to prepare, and on the other hand, we are competing for titles and we have to live with the situation," he added.
"All the teams competing in Europe suffer from the same problem, and at the present time the day before the match I do not know my options. We will play tomorrow and there is not much time to recover, the players are training well, and we will determine the squad tonight," he added.
Guardiola did not reveal the position of midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and defenders Nathan Aki and Emeric Laporte, while striker Gabriel Jesus has not trained with the team yet, and stated that "some of them may enter the list and some not, and you will know tomorrow."
Man City occupies the 11th place, and there is a match left for them.
Guardiola said that the fans are waiting for an "open race for the title" this season due to the circumstances of Corona, after Liverpool and City dominated the last two seasons.
"It seems that the results are not expected, but this is the situation worldwide and not only here..Before I got here, the history of the English Premier League used to speak for itself, and it is the most open competition in the world, and it will return to normal this season."