Pep Guardiola bites back to call for an APOLOGY to Manchester City after their European ban was cancelled… and says their success is making ‘elite clubs like United, Liverpool and Arsenal uncomfortable’
- Pep Guardiola has hit back at Premier League bosses over their CAS criticism
- Manchester City have seen their two-year Champions League ban overturned
- The likes of Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho have both criticised the decision
- But Guardiola insists the ruling shows that his club have done the ‘right’ thing
Pep Guardiola slammed ‘whispering’ rivals across the Premier League and Europe as the Manchester City manager came out swinging following the club’s successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Guardiola, free of legal shackles after Monday’s verdict, took aim at La Liga president Javier Tebas and a collection of clubs across the continent.
Eight Premier League teams penned a joint letter to CAS opposing the prospect of City applying to freeze the two-year suspension prior to June’s hearing. Guardiola took no time in voicing his displeasure, moments after Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho had both made their feelings clear.
Pep Guardiola has bitten back after Manchester City’s European ban was overturned
Mourinho labelled the verdict a ‘disgrace’ – suggesting City should not have been fined £9million for obstructing UEFA’s investigation if innocent – while Klopp said ‘it was not a good day for football’.
‘Yesterday was a good day for football,’ Guardiola said. ‘We played with the same rules as everyone. If we break it then we would’ve been banned.
‘How many times have people come to our club whispering about us? I’d love for it to finish. Look in our eyes and say something to us face to face. We’ll shake hands if we lose. But they lost off the pitch. They have to go on the pitch and try to beat us like the sportsmen that we are.
Jurgen Klopp expressed his disappointment this week at the decision being overturned
Jose Mourinho declared FFP ‘truly dead’ after reacting to Monday’s decision on Tuesday
‘Don’t go behind (us) and start whispering, seven or eight clubs, on what we should do. Our reputation was damaged. Now we show that they were not true. The people should accept it. We should complain and we aren’t. The other (clubs) should say much more on this.
‘I know that for elite clubs like Liverpool, United, Arsenal, it is uncomfortable us being here but they have to understand we deserve to be with them and fighting for the achievements that they have achieved in the past.
‘This guy, Senor Tebas, must be so jealous. He’s an incredible legal expert, from what I see. I’ll ask him next time which court we have to go. He has to be a bit more worried and concerned about La Liga. When the sentence is good for him, it’s perfect. When it’s against, it’s a problem.’
City’s two-year ban was overturned on appeal by to Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS)
Guardiola maintained City were not afforded a fair trial publicly after hacked emails were published in a German magazine. And the Catalan believes they are due an apology.
‘Jose and other managers should know, we were damaged, we should be apologised to,’ he added. ‘If we did something wrong, we will accept the decisions from CAS because you did something wrong.
‘We don’t expect Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Wolves to defend us, but we can defend ourselves.
‘We defended ourselves because we believed what we did was right. The three judges said we were appropriate.
‘But we were damaged. The people said we were cheating, lying, many times. The presumption of innocence was not there. We’re incredibly happy because we can defend what we’ve done on the pitch.’
Guardiola and his coaching staff celebrated the CAS ruling by posting on Instagram