September 27th 2023.
Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side face a difficult task this Wednesday night, having to make the long 300-mile round trip from St James' Park to Manchester by bus after their Carabao Cup fixture against Newcastle United. This late return will cost the team valuable recovery time, as they will need to travel to Wolves the next day for their Premier League fixture.
"We cannot come back by plane because we don't have planes to travel back so we have to take a bus, it's two, three hours later, we arrive here so, so late," Guardiola said. "I don't know what happened [to the aeroplane]. The team manager told me it happened with the previous one in London."
Not only will they face a long journey home, but City will be without influential midfielder Rodri for the game, as he begins the first of a three-match ban after a red card against Nottingham Forest. However, Guardiola is likely to welcome back Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic who have both recovered from their respective knocks.
The Premier League leaders have faced Newcastle already in the campaign, with Julian Alvarez’s first-half strike earning them a 1-0 home victory in August. Furthermore, their hectic travels extend beyond these next few days, as four of their five games in October are also away from home, including a midweek clash next week with RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
"It's a really, really important game for us because we know what it means to be able to win there for qualification for the next stage. This is what we have to do," Guardiola said.
It's another difficult challenge for Manchester City in the upcoming week, as they face a long drive home and a midweek Champions League fixture. With the team already missing some of their star players, they will need to make the most of their recovery time to give themselves the best chance of success.
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