Bernardo Silva hits out at ‘disrespectful’ fixture schedule for Man City. | OneFootball

Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva has hit out at the fixture schedule, claiming his side were placed at an unfair disadvantage in their 1-1 draw with Arsenal.

City travelled to the Emirates on Sunday just three days after their Champions League clash with Napoli, which they won 2-0 on Thursday night.

Arsenal, however, played their European tie against Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday, giving them four days to prepare for the Premier League showdown.

Silva questions fairness of scheduling

Silva was frustrated by the lack of rest and admitted City could not reach their highest level in one of the season’s most important games.

“I am saying this because we didn’t lose … if we lost, I wouldn’t say this. But the reality is, we cannot come to one of the most important games in the season with such a disadvantage in terms of rest. It is not fair to play one of these games like this. It is just not right. It cannot happen.”

The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he felt the effects on the pitch and suggested others also struggled with the physical demands.

“I wasn’t feeling in a perfect condition to play like this, and people who have not played at the highest level don’t know how it feels to play a game like this.

You need to be at your best condition. We saw [Abdukodir] Khusanov getting injured [for City and going off at half-time] because these games demand a lot.”

Calls for minimum recovery time

Silva argued that three days should be the minimum rest period between such high-level matches, adding that the decision to give City fewer recovery days was unfair.

“It is just frustrating that we couldn’t be at our best level simply because of the decision of someone that thinks it is fair to come away after two and a half less days than Arsenal.”

The midfielder explained he felt the difference clearly in the first half.

“I felt the difference in the first half. If you play at the highest level you know that two days [of rest] playing against one of the best teams in the league, away, with the travel … you need at least one more day to recover. It doesn’t matter if Arsenal had four, five or six days, just give us one more day and then you make it an even game.”

City were minutes away from taking all three points before Gabriel Martinelli struck in stoppage time to rescue a draw for Arsenal.

Despite Silva’s frustration with the scheduling, the result leaves his side with plenty still to fight for.

Manchester City will now turn their focus to their next fixture away at Huddersfield as they aim to get back to winning ways.