Guardiola confident City won’t be banned

Guardiola is confident that Manchester City will not be banned from the Champions League at the end of an ongoing Financial Fair Play investigation after speaking with the club’s senior figures.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin promised that there will be action “very soon” regarding its assessment of allegations that City broke FFP rules. Guardiola said City would accept a ban but does not believe it is likely after discussions with chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano.

He said: “We will not be banned, no. That’s what I think because I trust in my chairman, with my CEO, what they have explained to me. I trust in them. If it happens, because UEFA decide that, we will accept it.”

MANCHESTER:Pep

NEED FINANCIAL FAIR PLAY, SAYS MOURINHO

Jose Mourinho says it is vital that UEFA clamps down on Financial Fair Play infringements to level the playing field and enable Manchester United to become serious Premier League title contenders again. “If the ones above us keep going in same direction and if their ambition and investment is continuous, that’s one thing. Another thing is if they stop, or if the Financial Fair Play makes them stop and then we can close the gap a little bit better,” he said in an apparent dig at Guardiola’s City.

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