Pep Guardiola decided to give his players a rest the day before Manchester City’s match against Real Madrid, but Alvario Arebola does not expect this to affect the home team.
Manchester City need a big victory over Real Madrid, so a natural assumption would be that the team must prepare for the Champions League tie as much as possible.
However, Man City did not train on Monday, as Pep Guardiola wanted to rest his players after a trip to the London Stadium on Saturday night.
This has the potential to disrupt the players’ pre-match preparation, but Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arebola is not convinced.
Man City receive praise from Alvario Arebola
Recently, Bernardo Silva blamed the ongoing transition at Man City for their recent struggles, as he claimed the newer players are still trying to integrate into the squad.
Despite this, Arebola believes Man City can almost play blindfolded in a sense, because of the familiarity between Guardiola and the club.
He told Real Madrid: “Guardiola explained it well this morning. It’s not something new for them; they’ve done it several times this season and it has even worked out well for them.
“The other day I heard that against Madrid, it was Pep Guardiola’s 987th match as a coach, so I won’t be the one daring to give him advice.
“It’s a team that can practically play with their eyes closed. They know each other very well and have been together for many years.”
Arebola added: “I don’t think the fact that they are not training today will change much in tomorrow’s result.”
Pep Guardiola has the power to change the game for Man City
Ultimately, Man City’s players should be capable of playing in whatever way Guardiola chooses, without having to train directly the day before a match.
The Catalan manager must ensure he sets his team up to move the ball quickly and remain unpredictable.
Recently there has been a lot of slow backwards and sideways passing and this is making Man City an easier team to defend against.
Guardiola has said that Haaland needs to be on the ball more and the way to do this is by playing progressive passes which actually give Real Madrid something to worry about.
