Managers threatening to play a weakened
team in the FA Cup has become a familiar sound in
recent seasons and Manuel Pellegrini joined the
chorus ahead of Manchester City's fifth-round tie
away to Chelsea on Sunday.
At both ends of the Premier League, the financial
incentive to either qualify for the Champions League
or avoid relegation has led to many managers
drawing on their extended squads for FA Cup ties.
In fairness to Pellegrini, who was told at the start of
this month that he would be replaced as City
manager by Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola at
the end of the season, his FA Cup dilemma this
weekend is not of his own making.
The BBC, who are broadcasting City's Cup tie, have
had their request to get the game moved from
Saturday to Sunday accepted by the FA.
That means Pellegrini's men will be in action just a
day before they travel to Ukraine ahead of the first
leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against
Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday, with City bidding to
reach the quarter-finals of Europe's elite club
competition for the first time.
That fixture in turn takes place just four days before
City face Liverpool in the League Cup final at
Wembley a week on Sunday.
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