Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has stated that his side`s clash with Chelsea in the FA Cup later today is “not a real game” and admitted that a weakened team will be fielded against the Premier League champions.
Mind games or indeed true? We’ll soon find out, won’t we? But with the Chilean having a host of stars on the treatment table currently, despite still being in contention for four trophies, he has admitted that his priority is not the FA Cup but to have as strong a team as possible available for the Champions League clash with the mighty Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday, so I’m inclined to believe him; that we’ll not get to see an Aguero and Kompany teaming up to spoil our fun.
Speaking ahead of the fifth round tie at Stamford Bridge and highly critical of the authorities for their ‘congested’ fixture list, he was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying:
“I think it’s not a real game, of course; not enough to pay the ticket.
“I always give a lot of importance to the cups. They [the FA] must think why [City are playing a second string team].
“We always try to play a strong team in the cups, and it would be very nice to finish with a game at Wembley, but there are some moments when you have to prioritise because you don’t receive any help and you could damage your prospects.
“The fans want to see a good game but we told them one week ago that we are going to play a young team. If the people want to continue going to the stadium, that’s for them.”
The noisy neighbours and the FA might not like this but this must be music to the ears of most True Blues, no?
Here’s hoping we can take advantage and hand the Citizens their third defeat in as many games, though.
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