Pep Guardiola mentions nine clubs who tried to get Man City kicked out of Champions League
Pep Guardiola named nine teams, including Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United, that attempted to eliminate Manchester City from the Champions League three years ago.
After taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, City successfully appealed a two-year ban from European competition in 2020.
An independent panel of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body found Guardiola’s squad guilty of overstating sponsorship revenue from 2012 to 2016.
City was also found to have “failed to cooperate with the investigation” and was fined €30 million (£27 million); however, they claimed they had not received a fair hearing and won their appeal.
The ban was overturned and the fine was reduced to €10 million (£9 million), but the Etihad Stadium club are embroiled in another financial storm after being charged by the Premier League on Monday for 101 alleged rule violations.
In his press conference on Friday, Guardiola issued a defiant response to the allegations before shifting the focus to the nine English rivals who attempted to have them kicked out of the Champions League three years ago.
The Spaniard said: “While we wait for UEFA to make a sentence against us, nine teams – Burnley, Wolves, Leicester, Newcastle, Spurs, Arsenal, [Manchester] United, Liverpool, Chelsea – out of the Champions League when they wanted that position.
“It is said there are not enemies or friends, just interests. They want to put it out to take that position we won on the pitch. They say, ‘You have to be out of the Champions League. You have to go to League One or League Two or maybe the Conference?’.
“We have already been in the lower divisions. We will be back there – not a problem, just in case. We will call [former City players] Paul Dickov and Mike Summerbee and we will do again. But they should wait. The Premier League put it there but they should wait. We are going to defend ourselves, like we did in the UEFA situation.”
Guardiola also criticized rivals for “condemning” City based solely on the charges brought against them and declared he is “absolutely certain” the club will be cleared. He added, “The club demonstrated their innocence in 2020.”
“What’s happened since Monday is the same as what happened with UEFA. We have already been condemned. You have to understand that 19 teams in the Premier League are accusing us without us having the ability to defend. I am fully convinced we will be innocent.”
On Sunday, when City hosts Aston Villa in the Premier League, Guardiola cannot allow the din around the club to detract from the task at hand. On Saturday, when Arsenal hosts Brentford, the Sky Blues could be eight points behind Arsenal in the title race by the time they take the field.
Pep Guardiola mentions nine clubs who tried to get Man City kicked out of Champions League
