'It's uncomfortable' - Pep expresses sympathy with Thomas Tuchel amid Abramovich sanctions

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has expressed sympathy with his Chelsea counterpart Thomas Tuchel after the London club's Russian owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government. The action, part of the government's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, means that the oligarch's assets, including Chelsea, have been frozen. The club can continue to operate under a special licence but restrictions imposed include a ban on selling tickets, while the government remains "open" to the sale of the Blues. The threat of sanctions had been widely speculated about over the past fortnight and, as he holds press conferences before games, Tuchel had often found himself as a de facto spokesperson for the club on the matter.

Guardiola feels that is an awkward situation for a football manager to have to deal with. "It's a difficult position for the manager, for Thomas Tuchel, and the players," said the Spaniard at one of his own press conferences. "It's uncomfortable and I feel sorry for them because they are there to do the jobs as well as possible. "When there was Covid we were asked to talk like doctors on the medicine, the vaccines. It looks like when we speak here we have to know absolutely everything. "We are the face of the club, we are right here every three days, so you ask whatever you want (but) you have to understand that there are subjects we don't know, and we don't have a one-hour lesson to speak or talk about what you are asking for. "It's uncomfortable and I feel sorry for them because they are there to do the jobs as well as possible. "I can talk about my club, always I feel comfortable talking about my club, but it's difficult talking about other situations, like last week with Man United. I don't