Pep Guardiola versus Jurgen Klopp. In England, just four days after the final of the World Cup, the next day of celebration is coming up.
The duel between Manchester City and Liverpool in the round of 16 of the League Cup this Thursday is - at least on paper - a real hit. But it also illustrates once again the insanity that sometimes prevails in the design of the game plan in international professional football.
More games, more marketing opportunities, more income: That's part of the bill. The players usually collect well, but also pay a bit of the price. Because the recovery time is getting shorter and shorter, the risk of injury is increasing. And it's not just star coaches like Guardiola or Klopp who are raising the alarm more and more often.
Guardiola: "Crazy"
"This World Cup is taking place at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons," said former Dortmund champion coach Klopp before the tournament in Qatar. "Everyone knows it's not right. But nobody talks often enough about the fact that it will change. Something has to change," the 55-year-old commented on how the ever-increasing burden on the players was dealt with - and a comparison drawn to the climate crisis. Everyone knew "that we have to change something" on the subject, emphasized the Liverpool coach. Only happen too little. Guardiola, once at FC Bayern Munich and under contract in Manchester since 2016, had also criticized the deadline hunt and called the World Cup at Advent "crazy".
It remains to be seen how many of their respective World Cup participants the two successful coaches will send onto the pitch this Thursday and how much top play there is really in the game. In the League Cup, the reserves are often allowed to play anyway.
At least Liverpool's substitute goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher is looking forward to the game. "We know we have to go straight to work and give it our all to give ourselves a good start and a good basis to continue for the rest of the season," the Irishman told club media.
After the game in Manchester, the Reds still have two Premier League games to look forward to on December 26th, the legendary Boxing Day, and on December 30th before the turn of the year. And on January 2nd the league will continue.
"Boxing Day is going through as if there hadn't been a World Cup. One asks oneself: is it still possible?" Cologne trainer Steffen Baumgart recently told "Kicker". The Bundesliga is the late starter among the top European classes and will only start playing again on January 20 with the duel between RB Leipzig and Bayern. The German Football League could be "complimented" with the scheduling, said national coach Hansi Flick shortly before the World Cup.
In France it starts again between Christmas and New Year, in Italy the first games after the World Cup will take place on January 4th. The English and Spaniards are among the absolute early starters: the first cup games took place there again on Tuesday. The stage on which, according to the world football association FIFA, there should be as many games as possible in the future. And even more competitions. And even more income.
