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Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola Claims Football Is Not A 'Special Day Any More'

Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola Claims Football Is Not A 'Special Day Any More'

Pep Guardiola will continue to see his Manchester City side play home matches behind closed doors after the city was put into tier three.

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted that football is "not a special day any more" due to the absence of crowds at matches.

Premier League clubs have not had fans in attendance for match-day fixtures for several months now amid the coronavirus pandemic.

And both City and rivals Manchester United will be unable to have fans back at stadiums when the national lockdown ends on 2nd December.

The city of Manchester has been placed in tier three, meaning that matches at both Old Trafford and the Etihad will continue to be played behind closed doors.

Guardiola has now expressed his disappointment at the absence of fans from matches and how much it has affected football without them.

PA

PA

PA

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss told BBC Sport: "Football was a joy when we played every three days in a routine, the players came here to the stadium and we had the spectators.

"Now it is not a special day any more. What's next? Go here, go here, go here [...]. Of course, the players want to do it. It is incredible how they run but not with joy for the situation.

"It's like all the people and families around the world. You don't go to restaurants, you don't go out. Even journalists, you cannot go to the press conference and see your friends, you are at home working and it is different.

"Football is not an exception. We go, we play and that is all."

Riyad Mahrez scored a hat-trick on the weekend as City thrashed Burnley 5-0 at the Etihad.

Guardiola's men will resume their Champions League campaign today with an away trip to Porto.

City will return to Premier League action on Saturday when they welcome Fulham to the Etihad.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Football, Pep Guardiola, Premier League

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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