And he is not pleased. Only four of the 14 men who played yesterday against Nürnberg chose to stay for dinner at the Allianz Arena’s players’ restaurant. For Guardiola, this is a priority issue. His players’ nutritional intake after the intense physical exertion of a game is a crucial part of their physiological recovery. Scientific studies show that the requisite nutrients must be consumed within an hour of the match finishing in what is known as the ‘metabolic window’. Other studies allow for two hours and some research suggests that you can wait even longer. In any case, it is certainly true that plenty of carbohydrates and a certain amount of protein are essential for good recovery and injury prevention, particularly when the players are facing a match every three days.Guardiola, Lorenzo Buenaventura and, of course, Nemmer, have explained all this to the squad several times already and Pep is annoyed. He cannot understand why professional footballers would choose to ignore something that could make such a massive difference to their continued wellbeing in the course of such a long season.The players’ lounge is on the second floor of the Allianz Arena.
