Paris St-Germain boss Luis Enrique says he was surprised to learn that Manchester City had been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, and he hopes the club can avoid sanctions.
City host PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday at 20:00 BST. It will be their first home match since being found guilty of the majority of 115 charges.
“There is a lot of noise around Manchester City and there is often noise around big clubs,” Enrique said at a news conference at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. “We just have to wait and see what the final decision will be. I hope everything works out well for Manchester City because I think what they have done on the pitch has been incredible over the last few years and they certainly deserved to win on the pitch all the trophies they have won.”
The verdict
An independent commission found that City had broken rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018. The club created “sham” contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel more than £830m into its football operations. City insist they are innocent and have appealed.
Enrique added: “The first thing that you hear, it is a surprise, but we need to respect the process and wait for the final decision. The authorities are responsible for making these decisions. But speaking only about football, they deserved those trophies. I love their football. Beyond that, we have to wait for the decision.”
He concluded: “The trophies you win on the pitch remain on the pitch. They deserved to win that and I hope they can avoid the sanction. But we have to wait.”
Guardiola and the ownership backdrop
Enrique is friends with former City boss Pep Guardiola, who is expected to make his first return to Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. Guardiola left the club at the end of last season after winning 20 trophies in 10 years.
City were bought for £200m in 2008 by Abu Dhabi United Group, which is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is a senior member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family and currently serves as vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
PSG, who have won back-to-back Champions League titles, are owned by Qatar Sports Investment. Both clubs were fined by Uefa in 2014 for breaching financial rules. PSG insisted at the time that they had always operated within the regulations.
Dembele on facing City
France forward Ousmane Dembele was asked whether now was a good time to play City, given the challenges the club faces off the pitch. “It is always difficult regardless of it being a good moment or a bad moment,” the PSG attacker said. “They have a high quality team, world-class players and a top coach as well. It doesn’t really matter. It’s always tough playing Manchester City.”