Elite football strike looming, as Rodri deals blow to game-makers

Top-tier athletes may opt to boycott games in protest of the growing fixture schedule. This concern has been raised by Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who has expressed the strain that he and his fellow teammates are facing this season.

Many of Europe's biggest clubs, City included, face an expanded Champions League this term, with teams who make it at least as far as the semi-finals playing between 14 and, if they have to go through the post-league stage play-off round, 16 games. Last season's semi-finalists, by comparison, all played 12 matches.

In addition to the expansion of continental competition – which also affects the Europa League, featuring the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham – and Conference League – in which Chelsea are taking part – there is the revamped Club World Cup to contend with. That tournament takes place next June and July, with the number of sides involved rising dramatically from seven to 32 – of which City and Chelsea will be two.

This has all fed into growing concerns that players are being overworked. At the more extreme end of the scale, a Premier League team who reaches the Champions League and Club World Cup finals, as well as the finals of both domestic cups could face in excess of 70 fixtures.

Asked ahead of City's Champions League opener at home to Inter on Wednesday whether players might go on strike, Rodri told reporters: "I think we are close to that...If it keeps this way, it will be a moment that we have no other option, but let's see."

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City played 59 games in all competitions last season, as they retained their Premier League title and reached the FA Cup final. The campaign before that, en route to doing the treble, Pep Guardiola's got through a whopping 61 matches.

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Guardiola himself has previously expressed his discontent with the congested calendar, but he seems resigned to the fact that things are the way they are. "It's not going to change – meetings are useless," he said bluntly last week. "They [the football authorities] decide to do it."

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