Pep Guardiola praises UEFA for major changes to European football landscape | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on decisions made by football’s governing bodies that have made the remaining matches hard-fought affairs in England’s leading division.

The Catalan’s comments come at a time when the Premier League table is more congested than ever, with City chasing top once more having briefly held the position following a 1-0 win at Burnley.

Beneath the top two, teams including Bournemouth, Brentford, Everton, and Sunderland are locked in a fight for a fifth Champions League spot, the Europa League and Conference League.

Pep Guardiola’s new and rare defence of UEFA perhaps signals a shift in perspective from the manager, who has previously been a notably vocal critic of fixture congestion.

However, the ‘Swiss Model’ expansion to 36 teams has undeniably removed ‘dead rubber’ matches that usually plague the end of a season, but could in turn affect Manchester City’s chances of claiming the Premier League title from Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola thanks UEFA for European football changes

Speaking during a recent press conference, Pep Guardiola was keen to issue rare praise on European football’s governing bodies for changes they have made in recent seasons that have, in turn, affected the competitiveness of English football.

“I think it’s one of the good things that in the last decade of 10, 15 years, it changed a lot and it’s a good thing,” Guardiola said while discussing the nature of all remaining Premier League matches being hard-fought affairs deep into the campaign.

“Before it was maybe 10 games left, just one team goes to the Champions League, and one team in the Europa [League] and it was 10 or 11 players don’t play for anything,” he continued.

“Now that is good because being involved in the Champions League, the Europa League, Conference, don’t be relegated, always you play for good things and that makes the competition alive until the end.

“And that is a really, really good decision from UEFA or the guys who decided to do it. Really good.”

How Man City and Chelsea can affect European qualification

Manchester City’s next opponents, Everton (Monday, May 4) are fighting for an ambitious pursuit of European qualification, while the following match against Brentford features a side also still mathematically in the hunt for a continental berth.

By incentivising higher finishes with increased prize money and expanded European pathways, UEFA has inadvertently solved a problem in England’s top-flight where mid-table teams would often switch off once safety was secured.

Looking ahead, the FA Cup Final on May 16 will further serve as a pivot point for the league’s European hopefuls. Should City defeat Chelsea at Wembley, the Europa League spot originally reserved for the cup winner will drop down to sixth or seventh place in the table.