City- Porto war of words hots up
MANCHESTER CITY could lodge a UEFA complaint after Champions League rivals Porto released a damning newsletter about them.
The Portuguese club have labelled Bernardo Silva a “convicted racist”.
Porto also blasted Fernandinho for “lacking class or insight” and claimed Pep Guardiola’s side are “lucky”, taking the war of words between the teams to a new level. It comes in the wake of two group- stage games that resulted in bad blood between the clubs.
Guardiola clashed with Porto boss Sergio Conceicao several times following City’s 3- 1 home win in October.
The ill- feeling carried on during Tuesday’s 0- 0 draw in Porto that saw both sides qualify for the last 16.
Guardiola accused the home team of negative tactics, with Conceicao hitting back to claim City were a waste of money. He said: “If I had his budget, his players, and still couldn’t get a win, I’d be sad too.”
Now Porto have slammed City in the newsletter, singling out Silva.
He was called someone “known internationally for having been convicted of racism”, referring to a one- game ban Silva received last year for a tweet about team- mate Benjamin Mendy.
A City spokesperson said: “This is not the first time
Porto have reacted badly. On this occasion it’s the ill- judged and targeted criticism of some of our individual players and our manager, which we wholly reject.
“In 2012, the last season we encountered them, it was the denial by the club of clear racist behaviour of their fans for which they were investigated and fined.”