‘Two years ago, I will never forget what you did to us’ – Pep Guardiola fires strong warning at Chelsea
The manager of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, has said that he remembers what nine Premier League clubs tried to do to the team two years ago.
According to reports, Chelsea was one of several Premier League teams that made an effort to kick City out of Europe.
City was expelled from the Champions League in February 2020 after UEFA found them responsible for a “serious violation” of the financial fair play rules.
City appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which quashed the ban.
However, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Burnley, Leicester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wolves were thought to be among the nine clubs.
The nine clubs wrote to CAS, requesting a “stay of execution,” but were unsuccessful in getting City penalised.
Guardiola has stated that he has not forgotten.
Pep said: “What CAS said means a lot to all of us, in the end, it breaks all the suspicions. I cannot forget nine teams in the Premier League who want to sack Manchester City from the league and the European competitions, these nine teams push and I know here [in my head] who they are,”
“I like when CAS said at that moment we did it properly. It’s a situation in 2012 or 2013, I was still in Barcelona, most of the people running that are not here now, but of course, I would not like it, what I like is to represent a club who do things properly [and] well, it’s not about winning the Champions League and the Premier League, we want to do well for our people and our fans.”
In defence of City’s Abu Dhabi owners, Guardiola added: “I am the spokesman for this club and every few days I’m here [in a press conference]. Every single word I said in all my press conferences, even if people don’t believe me, is because I truly, truly believe it. Why did I defend the club and the people? It’s because I work with them.
“When they are accused of something I ask them ‘tell me about that’, they explain and I believe them. I said to them ‘if you lie to me, the day after I am not here’. I will be out and I will not be your friend anymore. I put my faith in you because I believe you 100% from day one and I defend the club because of that.
“When you put something here [sponsor on a shirt] it’s overpaid, but other [clubs] the money comes from the USA but the money is correct, even if it’s higher. We have to deal with that, we have to fight with that.”