Manchester City full-back Kyle Walker has admitted that he doesn’t like 8pm kick-offs due to the waiting around that is required.
The £50 million England international stands to start in the Champions League final on Saturday night against Inter.
It’s City’s final game of what has been an amazing season – and the biggest of all.
City have already sealed the Premier League and FA Cup. But the Champions League trophy is the one every City fan really wants.
Pep Guardiola has been putting his players through their paces this week, and is hopeful they will all be on it in Istabul.
Kyle Walker says he is not a fan of 8pm kick-offs
Saturday will be a long day, because the game is obviously kicking off at 8pm UK time.
It’s actually going to be a 10pm kick-off (local time) over in Istanbul. That means a lot of anxiousness and waiting around for supporters.
But it’s actually the same for some players, and Walker admits he is no fan of later kick-off times.
He said in an interview with The Telegraph: “I’m 33 now so I wouldn’t say I get nervous. But I hate 8pm games because it is the wait of all day to go to the game. I’d rather it kicked off at 3pm and then it is done then.
“Obviously there are a little bit of nerves. But I think that’s good – you just have to channel them in the right direction to make you perform well. But it is more excitement than nerves.”
Kyle Walker’s admission about 8pm kick-offs is understandable, as one final one this season remains
One can imagine that it isn’t particularly nice having to wait around all day to play a game of football.
Especially when that game of football is one of the biggest of your career.
But it is what it is, and Walker and co will need to make sure their preparations are spot on ahead of facing Inter.
City have been very used to 8pm games over the past 10 years or so.
The club has been in the Champions League for the longest time now. And City being a top club in England means they are often selected for games on TV – things like Saturday/Monday Night Football on Sky Sports, for example.
There will probably be a lot of tension throughout Saturday.
But hopefully, Walker and his teammates can remain relaxed, and put in the performances of their lives.
He should have a good chance of starting. His form has been very good over the past few months and Pep Guardiola has used him an awful lot.
