Mikel Arteta joins Pep Guardiola in slamming football chiefs after Man City FA Cup TV rant

Mikel Arteta has agreed with Pep Guardiola over complaints about the scheduling of matches after European fixtures.

The Manchester City manager criticised the scheduling of his team's FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Saturday, just days after Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final clash against Real Madrid. City played a gruelling 120 minutes before being beaten by Carlo Ancelotti's team on penalties.

And the Catalan coach made his feelings clear in the aftermath of Saturday's contest at Wembley Stadium. Guardiola pointed out that the other semi-final involving Manchester United and Coventry City on Sunday involved two teams who did not play in mid-week, unlike his team.

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"It is unacceptable. It is really unacceptable," he told BBC Sport. "Coventry [and] Man United and Chelsea don't play in the week and let us play today. Next week on Friday would be better, instead of Saturday put it [the match] on Friday for recovery.

"It is for the health of the players. It is not normal. Honestly, it is not normal. It is not possible. It is unacceptable to go 120 minutes. All of you are football players. The emotion too, Madrid, the way we lose.

"I know in this country this is special for many things, but it is for the health of the players. I don’t understand how we survived today."

And now Arsenal boss Arteta has also slammed the schedule after his side's 2-0 win over Wolves, which came just a few days after their Champions League fixture against Bayern Munich.

"It’s not about us, Pep or myself it’s about the wellbeing of the players," he said. "When you compete in European competition every team has to compete in the same way.

"It is not right if you look in any angle. Let’s protect the players and do everything we can to help them recover and perform the show that they do every week."