Much smaller trips
The Guardiola-coached squad’s biggest trip this season was for the Super Cup, against Sevilla. The match was held in Piraeus, Greece, 2,600 kilometers from Manchester. Palmeiras had 4,300 kilometers to go until Quito.
Considering the Champions League, a tournament mentioned by Abel Ferreira, City’s biggest trip so far was to Belgrade, Serbia, to face Red Star: 1,900 kilometers. The distance is shorter than the route between São Paulo and Recife or Fortaleza.
In the English Championship, the away game that requires the longest trip for Manchester City is at Brighton’s home: 337 kilometers. It’s as if the trip to Palmeiras’ furthest game in the Brasileirão was to Curitiba.
The calculated distances refer to the ‘straight line’ route, disregarding the means of transport to be used.
Brazil and England, where Guardiola’s team plays most of its games, are two different worlds. In England, in addition to the obvious geographical issue, the teams are clustered in large urban centers: in the Premier League, for example, there are 7 teams in Greater London. Add this to the immense railway network and internal connections, and the life of a coach in English football is much easier. Abel, to go to Fortaleza, needs to travel three thousand kilometers
