Guardiola: Haaland and Savinho in, addresses racism towards Vini Jr | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola gave a pre-match press conference ahead of the decisive game against Newcastle on Friday morning. The coach spoke about the return of players to the team after injuries, the case of alleged racial abuse against Vinícius Júnior currently being investigated by UEFA, and the battle for English titles against Arsenal.

The interview began with Guardiola confirming Haaland for the match. He also spoke about Doku and Savinho. “Doku is not ready, but Savinho is.”

Soon after, the coach was asked about the points gap between Arsenal and Manchester City and how his players’ experience could help in this situation. “They were nine points ahead because we had a game in hand. With the same number of matches and the same conditions, the gap narrows. Many things will happen until the end of the season. 70% of my players are new, so they don’t have experience in this kind of situation. The experience is winning tomorrow (Saturday). That’s the only one.”

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Alleged racism against Vini Jr

Pep gave his opinion on the case being investigated by UEFA regarding alleged racism against Vinicius Júnior. “I’ve said it before. It’s not where you were born or the color of your skin that makes you better or worse. We have a lot of work to do. It’s in society, not just in football. Racism is everywhere.”

The Spaniard concluded by sharing his opinion on where this behavior needs to change. “Schools. Pay teachers better. That’s where people need to be well paid, in schools. Not in football. Teachers and doctors should be the greatest,” said the coach, who finished on a humorous note. “They are the most important for society, for sure. Not the coaches.”

Guardiola and the final stretch of the season

A journalist questioned Pep’s situation, as he seemed tired after the last game against Salford. “The important thing is that the players can rest. Matches with less and less time to recover. Games on weekends and midweek. I don’t need to run a meter. For me, it’s not a problem after one or two days. Sleeping well is enough. For the top players, sometimes they spend many weeks just training and playing.”

Guardiola answered questions about the final stretch of the English Championship. “Twelve games is a lot of games. Now we’re thinking about Newcastle. That’s the only thing I’m worried about. The final game with Arsenal will come, but now it’s Newcastle and then Leeds. You want to anticipate what’s going to happen. Will this team be champion or will another team? That doesn’t matter. It’s Newcastle.”

Pep finished by talking about the chances of overtaking Arsenal in the English Championship and the confidence he has passed on to his players. “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next games. I haven’t spoken for even a second about the final with my players. Yesterday and the day before it was about Newcastle, today and tomorrow it will be too. I couldn’t ignore it more. There are still twelve games left, and a lot of things will happen.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.