Manchester City have struck an ‘alternative arrangement’ with UEFA after skipping training the day before their Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund. That means the governing body will not punish City after manager Pep Guardiola made the decision on Monday not to train the day before the match following their Premier League encounter with Bournemouth.
The Catalan coach concluded that his squad would benefit more from having Tuesday off ahead of Wednesday’s fixture against Dortmund. The move goes against UEFA’s standard requirements for Champions League fixtures. Within the ‘Media Matters’ section of their rules, the regulations stipulate that each club ‘must make their training session on the day before the match open to the media for at least 15 minutes’ as part of their obligations to broadcasting rights-holders, who compensate UEFA for such access.
“Both clubs must make their training session on the day before the match open to the media for at least 15 minutes in accordance with the schedule agreed in advance with UEFA. The two training sessions must be arranged by the two clubs and UEFA together, so that the media can attend both,” states Article 79.
“In principle, the visiting club holds its official training session in the stadium where the match will take place on the day before the match, unless otherwise agreed in advance with UEFA…If a club does not hold a full training session on the day before the match, alternative arrangements must be made in agreement with UEFA to provide the media with access to a minimum of 15 minutes of the team’s preparation (e.g. stadium walk-around).”
After cancelling training on Tuesday, City have sent 15 minutes of footage from Monday’s session to UEFA, which can be used by broadcasters. This ‘alternative arrangement’ has been accepted, allowing City players a day off and ensuring the club avoids any UEFA sanctions.
Guardiola and Erling Haaland still fulfilled their media duties with a press conference on Tuesday. And Guardiola said: “We will train tomorrow morning. I’ve done it a few times – maybe not a lot but a few times. Sometimes I prefer it. Don’t see each other.
“Bournemouth was so demanding that I prefer they stay at home and tomorrow morning we train. No-one is going to change the schedule because we have a lot of competitions so it is what it is.”
On Monday, the squad trained at the City Football Academy, focusing on recovery after the Bournemouth match. As per usual, those who didn’t start the match had a more intense workout.
City are aiming for two victories in their two home European matches this month, either side of the November international break, to secure a top-eight place that would guarantee direct qualification for the last-16. They face Dortmund on Wednesday and then Bayer Leverkusen later in the month.
“We want this season to qualify in the top eight. We know how important it is to not have those two extra games,” said captain Bernardo Silva following the win in Villarreal last month. But yeah, we’re happy with our momentum right now, with the way the team is playing.”
