Pep Guardiola’s classy response to Manchester City fans over empty seats at FA Cup semi-final | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has sympathised with the struggles and financial constraints on travelling supporters when discussing the club’s inability to sell out their ticket allocation at the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

City booked their place in the FA Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday courtesy of goals from Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol, dominating much of the tie and producing a team performance unlike many we’ve seen from Guardiola’s men this term.

Manchester City supporter groups recently penned an open letter to club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in an open letter with a set of demands as regular match-goers and season ticket holders continue to be overlooked and priced out of home games.

There have been several notable incidents during the campaign when the safety of Manchester City supporters at the Etihad Stadium has come under question, owing to a number of altercations with away fans in the home end.

Ticket prices have skyrocketed over the years and Manchester City – a Wembley regular courtesy of their domestic cup success under Guardiola – have seen fans complain of the financial challenges in travelling to Wembley and returning to Manchester on a Sunday.

“They cannot (come) because the situation is difficult. For travel, people on Monday work and maybe they’ll arrive late. The prices or tickets and people cannot do it, what can I say? I’m pretty sure they would love to go. It happened in the past, this season has not, it’s okay!” said Guardiola in a press conference last week.

“I understand. All around the world people suffer economically, it’s not easy for them. I understand if they don’t come. We will play for the people who come to Wembley, the people who would like to come and cannot.”

Sympathising with Manchester City fans as someone who has raved about the club’s away support for years, Guardiola added: “I understand completely. I’m pretty sure they (fans) would love to come (to Wembley) but don’t because they can’t – and I am close to them to understand perfectly.”