‘Getting more complicated’: Man City star laments as Champions League return

Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji has raised concerns about the amount of games players will play this season as the UEFA Champions League returns in a new format. 

This season the Champions League is a new league format – 36 teams in one table, playing eight fixtures each. Pep Guardiola’s team will host Inter Milan at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening as the new format gets underway this week. 

Inter Milan, Club Brugge, Feyenoord and Sparta Prague will travel to the Etihad as part of the new group, while Pep Guardiola’s side will face trips to Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon and Slovan Bratislava.

Manuel Akanji (Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Akanji has voiced out his thoughts about the new system, claiming its getting more complicated. 

The defender said: “It’s getting more complicated with the league. You play different teams, and then Inter don’t have the same opponents as us. It’s just got bigger, more games. Then we have the Club World Cup at the end of the season. It’s just game after game and I don’t know how it will work out over the next couple of years.

“It’s so tough, you don’t just think about this season – but also next season. When do we do holidays? There are no breaks in winter. If we are lucky we get two weeks and then we need to be back and into next season. There’s no end to it. I don’t know how it works out. Maybe I’ll retire at 30!”

Akanji has grown to become one of the most important player in the City squad and it’s left to see how Pep Guardiola will manage him as the season gets more intense.