Previously, when Chelsea manager Boas complained about the fixture schedule, the media brought up Man City to shut him up, leaving Boas speechless.
This was not only because Man City's results were better. More importantly, Man City's schedule could be described as the most grueling of the grueling.
They had to play four matches in twelve days. In particular, the nineteenth and twentieth rounds fell on December 31 and January 2 respectively, meaning there was only one day in between.
That was it?
This was only the beginning.
The weekend's FA Cup match was on January 6, while everyone else played on January 7 or even 8.
So why did Man City play a day earlier than everyone else?
Because three days later, they would play the first leg of the League Cup semifinal.
Then came the twenty-first round of the league, followed by the second leg of the League Cup semifinal in midweek.
A little confusing?
It was fine. All you needed to know was that amid this devilish schedule, Man City had to play two more matches than the other teams. That cleared things up.
Chelsea certainly had complaints too, though, because they had also reached the League Cup semifinal and would have to play two extra matches.
Then they could take a look at the opponents.
In the twentieth round, Man City would host Liverpool.
In the third round of the FA Cup in midweek, Man City would host Manchester United.
Yes, they had not read that wrong. It was Manchester United!
Those damned people at The FA had no idea how the draw had been made. They had somehow drawn the top two teams in the Premier League against each other in the third round of the FA Cup. Wasn't that the same as staging the