Renowned fitness coach Raymond Verheijen has praised Manuel Pellegrini for resting key players ahead of Manchester City’s crucial Champions League Round of 16 first leg clash at Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday.

The Chilean tactician, who is set to be replaced by Pep Guardiola at the end of the season, came in for criticism from some corners for naming a youthful squad for their FA Cup fifth round clash with Chelsea yesterday, a game the Blues won 5-1.




Pellegrini named a team with a whole host of Under-21 players, who were no match for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The 62-year-old, who explained before the game that he was unwilling to risk his star players before their crucial Champions League trip to Ukraine, was not pleased with the Football Association for not deferring the date of their FA Cup clash.
 


And Verheijen backed Pellegrini’s decision to rest his important stars, with the Dutchman going on to cite examples of how the Italian FA were flexible with the fixtures so that Serie A teams received an extra day off before their European adventures.

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“Smart decision by Man City coach Pellegrini to rest his players on Sunday & not to take any risk in preparation for the CL game on Wednesday”, he tweeted.

“The Chelsea v Man City FA cup game should have been played on Saturday as Chelsea played PSG on Tue. So, three rest days between all games.

“As long as the governing bodies ignore the fact 2 rest days is unfair play, coaches are forced to prioritize one competition over another.

“As 2 rest days is proven to be insufficient & CL is priority over FA cup, how can one blame Pellegrini for not taking risk of unfit players?

“Italian FA gave Juventus permission to play Friday so they have not 2 but 3 rest days in preparation for the CL game v B Munich next Tuesday.

“Italian FA gave Napoli permission to play tomorrow (Monday) vs AC Milan so they have not 2 but 3 rest days after their EL game last Thursday.

“If governing bodies help their clubs by optimizing the fixture planning based on 3 rest days coaches do not have to prioritize competitions.”