Pep Guardiola had revealed that Manchester City's physios have administered 71 treatments for injuries in the last fortnight.
During this period City have had a busy fixture list, meeting Atletico Madrid twice in the Champions League quarter-finals and also playing Liverpool on two occasions – once in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Speaking before his side's game against Brighton on Wednesday, Guardiola revealed that this hectic schedule had taken a toll on his squad.
"I like to work with a big squad, in my experience, I’ve lived it many years in my life as I’ve been in top clubs, we arrive here fighting many times. If you want to fight you have to be fit," he said.
"10 days [we played], Atletico, Liverpool, Atleti, Liverpool for many players after an international break. 25 or 27 players, I don’t like it. I prefer 16, 17, 18 all fit, otherwise it’s difficult to handle it. I live that, in previous seasons, we fought and we won and we were there, at the end of the season the desire is there, we were close.
"If it’s not a specific game, it’s the next one and the next one, you might not have five or four days, you have three, with travel. Our physios made 71 treatments between Atleti and the semi-final. 71, it's true. When they come and say Kyle [Walker] is ready but didn’t play much minutes, you can handle it that’s why it was more difficult, but you tell me how you compete."
Despite the frequency of treatments in recent weeks City's medical team have managed the squad well this season, with Guardiola rarely having to deal with multiple absences.
He will need this good streak to continue as we reach the climax of the season, with the Cityzens competing for both Premier League and Champions League titles.
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Source : 90min