No winter wonderland for fatigued EPL sides

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes the failure of any English side to make the quarterfinals of the Champions League for a second time in three years is related to the Premier League's relentless winter schedule.

Pellegrini's men were dumped out of the last-16 stage by Barcelona for a second consecutive season on Wednesday as Ivan Rakitic's solitary goal in the second leg sealed a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Arsenal and Chelsea had earlier been eliminated by French sides Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, while Liverpool failed to even make it out of the group stages.

"It is difficult to explain because it is a very strong league with teams that have the capacity economically to bring in very good players," said the Chilean.

"On the other hand, possibly the fact of playing so many games in December and January while the teams in Germany, Italy, Spain all stop means they arrive fresher (to this stage of the competition).

"They are two very heavy months in terms of workload for us and that could be a related factor because there is no doubt the Premier League has very good teams and players."

While the Premier League sides tend to play four times in less than two weeks around the Christmas and New Year period, most of their European rivals enjoy a winter break.

In Spain, La Liga shuts down for just two weeks, however in the Bundesliga, home of world champion Germany, there was a five-week break between the end of December and January this year.

Barca boss Luis Enrique agreed with Pellegrini that fatigue could be a factor affecting English performances in Europe but said he was a fan of the traditional Boxing Day fixtures.

"It is very nice for us when we are on our holidays to watch all this English football with its culture of Boxing Day," said Enrique.

"I saw (Manchester United manager, Louis) van Gaal and I think (Southampton boss) Ronald Koeman complain about that this year.

"Whether that is the solution or the reason why Manchester City is out, I don't know. I think a great part of that is that they have drawn Barcelona in the last 16.

"England has a special allure for the atmosphere and the number of teams that can win the league.

"Possibly in the past couple of years they haven't had the same success in European competitions, but it is very difficult to win against the best teams in Europe."

Manchester City's 1-0 loss at Barcelona on Wednesday ended English interest in this season's Champions League and the champion is one of six clubs now apparently vying for three berths in the 2015-16 competition.

Leader Chelsea, six points clear of second-place City with a game in hand, already appears guaranteed to qualify, but Pellegrini's side's place in the top four is no longer as secure.

(China Daily 03/21/2015 page10)