‘Maybe we’re going to play more than 70 games’Pep Guardiola praises his walking woundedPep Guardiola has said he has no alternative other than “just to handle it” as his ailing Manchester City squad bears the brunt of a heavy schedule he compared to the NBA.City’s first defeat of the ­Premier League season, at Bournemouth on Saturday, followed exiting the ­Carabao Cup at Tottenham in ­midweek. ­Guardiola put his team’s slump down to the “reality we are ­living now”: their season is ­scheduled to run until Fifa’s ­inaugural, and ­controversial, Club World Cup, planned for June and July 2025 in the US, with games ­continuing to come thick and fast until then. ­On Tuesday City face ­Sporting, with the ­incoming Manchester United manager, Rúben Amorim, at the helm, in the ­Champions League. Continue reading...