Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about Crystal Palace potentially resting players when they face Arsenal
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 17: Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner embraces Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on May 17, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 17: Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner embraces Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on May 17, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
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Oliver Glasner and Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola told the Premier League to stay out of Oliver Glasner's plans for Crystal Palace against Arsenal on the final day of the season. The Gunners travel to Selhurst Park on the day that could decide the title, and Glasner has suggested that Palace could rest players ahead of their Conference League final three days later.
That has sparked questions over the integrity of the league, with Arsenal potentially being given a helping hand on the final day - if the title race gets that far - by the random allocation of the fixture list and how well Palace have done in Europe. Glasner has dismissed such ideas as nonsense, and Guardiola backed the Austrian up by saying he should be allowed to pick any team he likes for each of his remaining three games without anyone else getting involved.
"Leave the managers to do what they have to do," the City boss said. "The less the Premier League is involved in all the decisions, will be better for all of us. So, leave it all over, so the managers do what they have to do. No problem."
City will be hoping to take the title race to the final day, starting with a win over Palace tonight to cut the gap at the top of the table to two points with just two games to play. Victory at Bournemouth next Tuesday would send it to the last game, and the Blues have experience from a number of different years how tense the final day can be, even for a team in control.
Wherever City end up though, Guardiola does not want them to blame referees, other teams or anything else if they are unable to pip Arsenal. And, as Palace's manager pointed out, he has to do what is best for his football club regardless of how it ends up for the title chasers.
“I don’t know what we’re doing yet,” Glasner said. “Maybe we’ll be playing with the same line-up that we’ll play against Rayo [Vallecano].
“It feels like the league title (may be) decided on the last day, but at the end, it’s a result of 38 matchdays and everybody gets what they deserve. To be honest, if somebody criticises (me for this), it would be nonsense.
“It’s (not) just the last game. There were 37 games played before and that means if another team rotated against City or Arsenal, they affected the title race as well.
“I’m not responsible for Arsenal, and I’m not responsible for Manchester City. I’m responsible for Crystal Palace, and I get paid for doing the best things for Crystal Palace.”