Manuel Akanji has broken ranks by openly criticizing the Manchester City schedule.
The side of Pep Guardiola is drawn in group G of the competition – in addition to Juventus, Al -Ain and Wydad FC – who kick off next weekend, only three weeks after the Premier League season ended.
If City goes all the way in the tournament, they could play until mid-July, so that players only have a month off before the 2025-26 season starts.
For many players, they have not offered the opportunity to lean back and relax for the summer in recent weeks, because they have international football tasks to attend.
And Akanji, who is currently in the US about Switzerland for their upcoming few friendly matches, has frankly pronounced the congestion of the fixture.
The center said: 'I've been a strong critic of this competition for a while. We players would like to have some vacation and some time for our bodies to rest. '
From their first trophy-less season under Guardiola since 2017, it is not surprising that the players of the city do not like to go on the field after a few weeks.
Akanji further explained that the rest of the team is 'not exactly overjoyed' about the upcoming games, which come after the back of a 57 game campaign.
The 29-year-old added: 'My city teammates are not really overjoyed about the tournament either. But it is now in our faces, and there is nothing that we can do about it.
'If we participate, we naturally want to win it. But if we reach the final, the period for us to recover for the new season becomes even shorter. '
When he was asked about the Underwhelming 2024-25 campaign from City, Akanji gave an optimistic judgment and argued that it could have been 'much worse' than it turned out to be.
City finished third and earned a place in the Champions League competition next season, while they were sent by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final and threw in the earlier rounds from the EFL Cup and Champions League.
“Suppose the expectations we have, this has not been a good season,” Akanji went on. 'We finished third in the Premier League, three points behind Arsenal, and qualified for the Champions League.
'But it is still our worst campaign for a while. Pep Guardiola, however, still said he was proud of us because they never give up. The season could have ended much worse than it did. '
Teams are expected to be more serious this year than ever before, given the Mammoth Prize Pool at stake.
The side that takes the trophy house receives a windfall of $ 40 million (£ 30 million), while a team that wins of their matches could see them land up to $ 125 million (£ 92 million).
For reference, the winner of the Champions League earns around £ 120 million, while the Premier League champions usually earn between £ 38 million and £ 40 million for the end.
From this year on, the World Cup will take place once every four years, the next display in 2029.
City won the trophy once – in 2023 – when it was an annual competition.