Pep Guardiola did not pause for breath as he reeled off nine names. “Burnley, Wolves, Leicester, Newcastle, Spurs, Arsenal, United, Liverpool, Chelsea,” he listed: nine clubs who wrote to Uefa in 2020, urging them to ban Manchester City from the Champions League. It is something that has been preying on his mind: he had mentioned the nine a week earlier, too.
And that was before the Premier League had surprised Manchester City with 115 charges on Monday over alleged breaches of financial rules. If Guardiola had shown signs of a siege mentality before, the public face of a club under siege responded with a display of defiance. “My first thought is that we are already being condemned,” he said. An independent commission of three members will deliver the most meaningful verdict but in the meantime he argued City are being convicted by the other 19 Premier League clubs, who he feels are behind the charges; by the court of public opinion, too.
“You have to understand that between 19 teams of the Premier League is accusing us without the latest opportunity to defend [ourselves],” he said. The reigning champions could, if found guilty, face expulsion from the division, stripped of some of their titles, be given points deductions or a huge fine. It is an unprecedented charge sheet: Guardiola disputed that, however. Uefa charged City in 2020, initially banning them from Europe for two years before the suspension was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Once again, Guardiola sees it is City against the world. He has chosen his side. He had said last year he would walk away from City if it was proved his employers had lied to him. Now a manager with a contract to 2025 said he is more determined than ever to stay. “But between these nine teams before and the 19 teams now, between their word and the word of my people, I’m sorry but I rely on the words of my people,” he said. “You know exactly what side I am on.”
A footballing emperor reached for a name from Roman tragedies in his search for an explanation. “Like Julius Caesar, they are not in this world, they are not enemies or friends, just interests,” he said. Certainly other clubs’ interests would be served if City were weakened. Guardiola feels it is a motivation for the current, extraordinary situation. “Go to the chairmen, CEOs, Daniel Levy, ask them,” he said. If Tottenham are unlikely to be pleased Levy was singled out and Guardiola is aggrieved that this case will drag on and on – “we have good lawyers and I think the Premier League will have good lawyers too,” he said – he thinks City are the unpopular outsiders, the moneyed upstarts. “We are not part of the establishment of the league,” he said.
The crux of the issue, however, is whether City are guilty and, if so, what is the appropriate punishment. Guardiola is adamant they are not and is concerned they are suffering reputational damage. “Just in case we are not innocent we will accept what the judge in the Premier League decides, but what happens if in the same situation that Uefa happened we are innocent, what happens to restore or pay back our damage?” he asked.
“I would say we are lucky we live in a marvellous country where we have a society where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We didn’t have this opportunity. We are already sentenced and tough.”
For Guardiola, history is repeating itself. “The same articles, the same accusations, the same everything,” he said. If the manager’s robust rebuttal should reach an appreciative audience in the City fanbase, it reflected the club’s frequent attitude: us against the world.
The potential punishments, he suggested, could return City to lowlier levels. “We have to be out of the Champions League, now we have to go to League Two or maybe the Conference,” he added. “We are not a team with a long history or titles, we have been in the lower divisions and we will be back there. It’s not a problem just in case. We’ll get Paul Dickov and Mike Summerbee [back] and we will do a good process and will be back. I’m pretty sure.”
When he was Barcelona captain, City were a third-tier team. Dickov and Summerbee form different parts of their past. Each played in periods where City brought entertainment – not always intentionally – and brought them level a popularity among neutrals before their reinvention in the last 15 years. Now the charge is that City cheated to get where they are, to assemble and pay squads brimming with talented players.
Their resources have been remarkable; so has the manner of some of their triumphs. As Guardiola argued, dramatic ends to seasons have not stemmed from money alone. “[Sergio] Aguero scored a goal to give us the Premier League [in 2012], [Ilkay] Gundogan scored two goals against Aston Villa to win the Premier League some months ago,” he said. “We did it on the pitch. We have to do it off the pitch? OK.”
And, if he is to be vindicated, City may need an Aguero moment in front of the judicial panel.
