Bernardo Silva blasts fixture schedule, says City disadvantaged after Napoli clash ahead of Arsenal

Bernardo Silva has blasted football chiefs over fixture scheduling, saying Manchester City were placed at a marked disadvantage against Arsenal after their Champions League win over Napoli. The City captain pointed to a 66-hour gap between the Napoli victory on Thursday night and City’s Premier League trip to Arsenal on Sunday, a stretch he said left Pep Guardiola’s side less than fully refreshed for a high-stakes clash in the capital. City took a 1-1 draw from the match, with Guardiola opting for a more cautious, defensive approach than usual. The complaint comes amid a broader debate over how calendars across UEFA’s competitions and domestic leagues are coordinated and how recovery time is allocated for squads contending on multiple fronts.

Silva told reporters the compressed rest period is not fair for one of the season’s biggest games. 'We cannot come to one of the most important games in the season with such a disadvantage in terms of rest,' he said. 'It is not fair to play one of these games like this. It is just not right.'

He emphasized the imbalance in preparation time, noting that Arsenal had five days to recover while City had two-and-a-half. 'They had five days [of rest], and we had two-and-a-half days. In one of the most important games, this cannot happen. I don’t think what happened [on Sunday] was good,' he added, underscoring his belief that the scheduling and the timing of rest should be given greater consideration in the context of marquee fixtures.

Silva also acknowledged the competing demands of multiple competitions and media requirements, but urged a return to what he called common sense. 'I understand you have different competitions and UEFA, the Premier League, and the broadcasters want to make their money. I understand all those sorts of things. We don’t mind playing every three or four days, and we don’t mind playing 60 games because we are used to that. But what we ask for is common sense because this is one of the biggest games of the season.'

He suggested that the issue affects more than City, noting, 'It is not because of us. I don’t think that they are trying to make us lose a game. It could happen to Arsenal or Liverpool in a few months.' Silva argued that captains have tried to raise concerns with authorities, but said such appeals have fallen on deaf ears. 'We have tried [talking], they don’t listen to us,' he said, reflecting the players’ frustration with the current alignment of schedules and rest periods. 'I wasn’t feeling in a perfect condition to play. We showed a lot of fight in difficult conditions. I am saying this because we didn’t lose. If we lost, I wouldn’t say this.'

'Two-and-a-half-days is not enough to recover our bodies and to perform at the highest level,' he added, explaining why the tactical approach—often more cautious in tough away fixtures—felt necessary given the travel, the opponent, and the short turnaround.

Silva’s comments come against a backdrop of ongoing discussion about how the sport balances competition integrity, commercial interests, and athlete welfare. He framed the issue as one of fairness and equal conditions for elite teams when facing each other in high-stakes matches, suggesting that the fix requires cooperation among UEFA, the Premier League and broadcasters to ensure that the best football can be played, especially in matches with title implications and broadcasting obligations.

The reporting on Silva’s remarks was provided by Jack Gaughan of the North West sports desk, with details drawn from the Sunday fixture and City’s post-match comments. The discourse surrounding fixture scheduling remains a live topic in English football, as clubs, players and managers push for reforms that could influence future campaigns and the cadence of Europe-wide competition.