Guardiola advises Rodri to ‘go and train in France or Portugal’ over fixture complaints | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has little sympathy for players like Rodri who have complained about fixture congestion and has told them to “go and train in France or Portugal” if they don’t like it.

Manchester City will have played 60 games come the end of the season after going all the way in both domestic cup competitions and reaching the Champions League last 16.

Much has been made of the number of fixtures and the mental and physical toll the increase in football is having on professional players as international stars will have just a short break this summer ahead of the World Cup.

29-year-old Ballon d’Or winner Rodri claimed last month that he “won’t make it to 32” if he continues to push himself to the limit for club and country.

“Either we stop or I won’t make it to 32,” Rodri stated. “You have to know how to pace yourself, because the body has its limits and we all have an expiration date.”

“When that European Championship we won ended, I was extremely worn out from reaching the final stages of everything for 5-6 consecutive years,” he added. “More than physically, mentally I didn’t know how to face it in the following years because of the burnout. I reached the peak, I almost reached the maximum I could have achieved, and it was a moment I used to recharge and recharge.”

But Guardiola has told the Man City midfielder to suck it up or leave if he doesn’t think he can handle the heat.

“It is what it is,” he said. “Arsenal are in the Champions League semi-final, so it is what it is. When we won the treble, we had a similar calendar, but I learned a long time ago not to expect anything different. We have to adapt and take it game by game.

He added, when asked about Paris Saint-Germain having games postponed: “It can happen in other countries, but here it is what it is. We have to adapt. If you don’t like it, go and train in France or Portugal. I like being here, and I’ve said many times – when I was at Barcelona and saw managers here complain about the schedule – it has always been like this. So I never expected anything different.”