Pep Guardiola has slammed the other Premier League managers for their responses to Manchester City’s ban and the verdict that has been handed down from the CAS on Monday.
Speaking in his pre-match conference Guardiola said that the verdict proves Manchester City did nothing wrong.
‘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.
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 LaLiga. When the sentence is good for him, it’s perfect. When it’s against, it’s a problem.’
‘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.’
Lots of the Premier League managers have not held back in their opinion of the verdict.
Jose Mourinho
“It’s a disgraceful decision”
Jose Mourinho has his say on Manchester City’s Champions League ban being overturned pic.twitter.com/YUORWUKPjQ
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) July 14, 2020
‘It’s a disgraceful decision,” Mourinho said. “If Man City is not guilty of it, to be punished by some millions is a disgrace. If you’re not guilty you’re not punished. In the other way, if you’re guilty you should be banned. In any case, it’s a disaster.
‘I’m not saying Man City is guilty. I’m saying if you’re not guilty you don’t pay. You are not punished, even with a pound. I know that money is quite easy for them but it’s just a principle. Why are you paying £8m or £9m if you are not guilty? If they are not guilty the decision is a disgrace. If you are guilty the decision is also a disgrace. My criticism is not for Man City. I’m nobody to know if they’re guilty or not. My criticism is for the decision.”
Jurgen Klopp
‘From a personal point of view I am happy that City can play Champions League next year because if I think about the league and City has 10-12 games less for resting players I don’t see any chance for any teams in the league to be honest. Apart from that, I don’t wish anybody anything bad.
‘Like I said I am happy that City can play Champions League but I don’t think it was a good day for football yesterday to be honest because I think FFP is a good idea. It is there for protecting teams, protecting the competition. That was the idea in the start that nobody overspends. That the big clubs before the season have to make sure that the money they want to spend is based on the right sources, let me say it like this.”
Frank Lampard
‘I was pretty neutral on it. I don’t know much about the case or the details. I just listened to the result as everyone else did this morning.
‘I genuinely don’t see beyond the games at hand. We want to win them and see if it gets us Champions League football for next season.
‘I was never pinning my hopes on whether it would mean an extra team got into the Champions League. We don’t worry about other teams.
‘My only concern is the games ahead,” he said. “We’re at a critical stage of the season. Norwich tomorrow, then Liverpool and Wolves in the league.
Mikel Arteta
‘There is no question about what happened. ‘They completely deserved to be in the Champions League because what they have done on the pitch is unquestionable. ‘The regulators have looked at it and have decided that they haven’t done anything wrong so you have the two aspects that are really clear and transparent.