Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has criticised the Premier League’s fixture scheduling insisting more must be done if English sides are to remain competitive in Europe.
The Blues head into their Europa League Round of 16 clash with Dynamo Kiev on Thursday, before facing Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday.
Sarri insists more must be done to help those competing in Europe, using the example of Italian football where an extra day of rest can be requested after European commitments.
‘In this moment we have played six, seven, eight matches more than the other European teams and eight matches means two months with a match during the week, so two months without training, so I think for an English team this makes it difficult to be competitive in Europe in March, April and May.’ Sarri told his pre-match press conference.
‘Yesterday we saw Real Madrid v Ajax and Ajax did not play the last match in the Dutch championship and Real [who were beaten] came from two matches against Barcelona,’ he pointed out. ‘There is a big difference.
‘The Premier League could do something more for teams involved in European competitions. With the Europa League in Italy, after the match away you can ask to play on Monday. One day more to rest is really very important. For example, we play in the Premier League 62, 63 hours after the match versus Dynamo Kiev. I think it is crazy.’
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