• Premier League

Pellegrini hits out at fixture pile-up

ESPN staff
December 28, 2013
Pellegrini expects tough examination


Manuel Pellegrini has once again hit out at the festive fixture pile-up and revealed he made his players spend Christmas in a hotel in a bid to cope with the demands.

City face Crystal Palace on Saturday, fewer than 48 hours after their 2-1 Boxing Day win over Liverpool.

The Chilean is upset that title rivals Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have an extra day to recover, After Christmas Day training, City's players were allowed home for a few hours before reporting to a Manchester hotel in which they have stayed since.

"We finished the game and went with the whole squad to the hotel to recover as well as we can," Pellegrini said.

"Playing less than 72 hours is not good for any players -- not just ours. Apart from United, all the other teams at the top play 72 hours afterwards.

"It must be the same for the rest of the teams."

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