Manchester City is struggling with an unusual opponent on the way to winning the treble: the English champions are currently struggling with the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC).
Because of the music competition, the Skyblues’ away game at Everton can only take place on Sunday (3 p.m. in LIVETICKER), giving City one day less time to prepare for the semi-final second leg of the Champions League against Real Madrid.
“I don’t understand it, but I don’t want to fight anymore,” said City team manager Pep Guardiola. Before the second duel with the royals on Wednesday (9 p.m.), his team “doesn’t have much time, thank you for that. We can’t play on Saturday because there’s Eurovision or something like that in Liverpool. And apparently sometimes two important events can’t take place side by side.”
For safety reasons, Liverpool-based FC Everton is not allowed to play its home game at the same time as the ESC. The event takes place from 9th to 13th May at the 11,000 capacity Liverpool Arena, around 6 km from Everton’s Goodison Park stadium.
City lead the English Premier League ahead of Arsenal FC, drew 1-1 in the Champions League semi-final first leg in Madrid and are also in the domestic FA Cup final.
Premier League: Table before Saturday’s games
| Place |
team |
Sp. |
Gates |
differential |
pt. |
| 1. |
Manchester City |
34 |
89:31 |
58 |
82 |
| 2. |
arsenal |
35 |
83:39 |
44 |
81 |
| 3. |
Newcastle United |
34 |
61:29 |
32 |
65 |
| 4. |
Manchester United |
34 |
49:41 |
8th |
63 |
| 5. |
Liverpool |
35 |
67:42 |
25 |
62 |
| 6. |
Tottenham Hotspur |
35 |
64:57 |
7 |
57 |
| 7. |
Brighton & Hove Albion |
33 |
63:45 |
18 |
55 |
| 8th. |
AstonVilla |
35 |
46:43 |
3 |
54 |
| 9. |
Brentford |
35 |
52:45 |
7 |
50 |
| 10 |
Fulham |
35 |
50:49 |
1 |
48 |
| 11. |
Chelsea |
34 |
34:39 |
-5 |
42 |
| 12. |
Crystal Palace |
35 |
35:46 |
-11 |
40 |
| 13. |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
35 |
30:50 |
-20 |
40 |
| 14 |
AFC Bournemouth |
35 |
37:67 |
-30 |
39 |
| 15 |
West Ham United |
35 |
38:50 |
-12 |
37 |
| 16 |
Nottingham Forest |
35 |
34:65 |
-31 |
33 |
| 17 |
everton |
35 |
32:53 |
-21 |
32 |
| 18 |
Leicester City |
35 |
49:64 |
-15 |
30 |
| 19 |
LeedsUnited |
35 |
44:69 |
-25 |
30 |
| 20 |
southampton |
35 |
31:64 |
-33 |
24 |
