Gary Lineker

beat City comfortably and looking at all the English teams I don't know whether there's anything in this but in Spain they have a little break in the football in a lot of these countries he's not as dynamic as physical as the Premier League we go into this round of matches having played through that mental Christmas stage where the players loads of matches FA Cup Carabao two leg stuff all our big teams are in those competitions so

And I don't know, it's like PSG at the start of the season, they're not looking that great, but then all of a sudden they burst into life after they don't have the commitments that the English clubs have.

You'll also notice that Spanish clubs, German clubs, French clubs, they don't play on Saturday and Sunday before Champions League.

I know it's FA Cup anyway, so it doesn't already apply, but they always look after their teams.

They play, they give them the break before the Champions League.

We don't necessarily think that way.

So I don't know whether, you know, you run out of steam, trying to make an excuse here, obviously for the English clubs, but let's take a break here and discuss the other sides when we come back.

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In the modern game, of course, there are a lot more games and that feeling of being slightly off by Monday.

And that's how it shows up, not as an injury, it's just fatigue creeping in.

Off the pitch, everyday life stacks up too.