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Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has told Manchester United to adapt to the fixture schedule ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby.
City have had two additional days to recover and prepare for the derby after beating Porto 2-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday, while United defeated Sabah 4-0 on Thursday.
Asked whether City’s longer recovery period gave them an advantage, Maresca said United would have to adjust to the demands of the schedule.
“Sometimes it happens in football. I don’t have any doubt that Man United are going to be ready for that. It just matters to adapt,” Maresca told the BBC.
The Italian pointed to a similar situation City experienced last season before their meeting with Arsenal, saying fixture congestion was part of the demands facing clubs competing in multiple competitions.
“I think that happens and you need to adapt. It happened last year with us, this season with them, next season it will happen with a different team,” he added.
Asked how United manager Michael Carrick might feel about having less time to prepare for the derby, Maresca said the matter was for Carrick to address.
“That’s a question for Michael.
“The only thing I can say is it happened and you need to adapt.”
City experienced a similar scheduling problem last September when they played Napoli in the Champions League on a Thursday before facing Arsenal two days later.
The expanded Champions League schedule has further increased the workload on clubs, with teams playing two additional group-phase matches before the end of January.
The demands will continue next week, with City scheduled to face Norwich in the Carabao Cup on Thursday, while United will host Brighton at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Sunday’s derby will be Maresca’s first since replacing Pep Guardiola at City, and he has made a perfect start to his Premier League tenure by winning all three matches.
United have taken four points from their opening three league games.
“It is very important for different reasons,” Maresca said of the derby.
“We know how important a derby is, especially here. It is a special game. The most important thing we can do is try to be ourselves and then we see the final result.”
