Premier League insists on trip to Bournemouth just three days after facing Chelsea in the FA Cup final, giving Manchester City manager a serious headache
Man City manager Josep Guardiola faces a serious dilemma at the end of the season
Due to the volatile nature of football market trends, it was difficult to estimate the exact market value of Manchester City’s bench in the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton. But it’s not much less than £500m.
Coach Josep Guardiola’s team is pretty healthy so far. At this rate, three games in seven days could be manageable given the depth and value of the talent at his disposal.
But when the time comes for the City manager to plan his approach to the series of games – against Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium on May 13, against Chelsea at Wembley on May 16 and away to Bournemouth on May 19 – it will be clear which games will be deemed the least important.
And who would have thought that about the FA Cup final? There are multiple reasons why this fixture challenge occurs. The ridiculous expansion of the Champions League and all European club competitions is definitely one of them.
read more: Man City dissatisfied after Premier League bosses ignore appeal to ‘maintain integrity’read more: John Stones admits moving to Manchester City is ‘a dream come true’
But the bottom line is that City’s Premier League match against Bournemouth has been rescheduled because the FA Cup is being held during the Premier League season. The tradition of the FA Cup final being the crowning match of the top-flight domestic season was abandoned last year. This was an unacceptable concession for the Football Association.
It has been confirmed on the Tuesday after the cup final that City will have to travel to Bournemouth for the Premier League match, making it very likely that Pep will face Chelsea at Wembley as his second-choice team. And that prospect will leave the FA and Premier League deeply embarrassed.
Don’t forget, they also eliminated replays after the first round, much to the consternation of lower league clubs. City can’t be blamed for wanting to reschedule fixtures to gain an extra advantage during a busy period.
Josep Guardiola substituted Erling Haaland in the FA Cup semi-final and may do the same in the final (Image: 2026 The FA)
However, they should be able to handle a schedule of six games in 21 days. But the occasion to suffer is a match that was once the highlight event of the entire English football season.
Not only did it have its own day, it also had its own weekend. Currently, he is sandwiched between Premier League matches. First, it was suggested that the Friday night before the cup final would not take place, but Chelsea played Manchester United on that day instead.
This season, it will be Aston Villa vs. Liverpool or Manchester United vs. Nottingham Forest on a Friday night. There is a danger that the FA Cup will become just another game that weekend.
If Josep Guardiola deems it a priority, he will prioritize the Premier League over the FA Cup (Image: Getty Images)
It is certain that Guardiola’s strategy will be put to the test. It’s entirely possible, for example, that he decides asking Erling Haaland to play three games in seven days is too much.
Guardiola may want to prove his point. It’s understandable that the Premier League didn’t ‘switch’ the dates for Palace and Bournemouth, but was it really such a problem to delay City’s trip to the Vitality Stadium by a day?
Presumably, that would have been impossible because it would have meant a match in the Europa League final, in which Premier League clubs were certain to take part. But could all parties really accept that? And it might have meant Guardiola leading a stronger team than the one competing in the FA Cup final.
He might still go to Wembley firing all his big guns from the off. But you wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+ and Ultimate TV packages
Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundles to include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, plus 135 channels and complete coverage of the Premier League and EFL from Sky.
Sky has over 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more, with at least 215 of them live from the top flight, along with F1, darts and golf.
