Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has accused the English Football League of showing a lack of respect towards the Uefa Conference League amid his side’s fixture congestion.
Palace will play Arsenal in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday (20:00 GMT) in a game scheduled to take place in the week after the other quarter-finals.
The EFL moved the game at Arsenal as Palace played KuPS in the Conference League last Thursday, between Premier League games against Manchester City on 14 December and Leeds United on Saturday.
“This is the only criticism for me to the EFL,” said Glasner after Palace’s 4-1 defeat at Leeds meant they had won only once following eight Conference League outings this season.
“I think to fix a round when a Conference League is played just shows also the lack of respect for the Conference League because they would never fix a round when there is a Champions League round or a Europa League round.
“So I think that’s maybe the problem for the game we have to play now, and why we have to play in three days again.
“But it shows that we are in four competitions and we want these games, we want this amount of games, and it’s not to complain about it.
“We are never complaining about the amount of games.”
The match at Arsenal will be Palace’s fourth in 10 days, but the EFL has previously defended its position.
In November, the EFL was critical of the “expansion of European cup competitions” which it believes was “implemented without adequate consultation with domestic leagues”.
The EFL said it had “shown a willingness to compromise” but scheduling conflicts are “now entirely unavoidable”.
UEFA’s European calendar now stretches across 10 midweeks, rather than six two seasons ago, with the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League each given a standalone week for exposure.
It has caused a logistical headache, with the third round of the EFL Cup having to be seeded and played across two weeks to keep clubs in the Champions League and Europa League apart.
– BBC
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