Pep: Critics not driving our Euro bid

Ill will over UEFA appeal decision is not driving Pep on

PEP Guardiola says the hatred expressed by other clubs over their innocence is not an extra Champions League incentive for City.

The Blues have been subjected to accusations of cheating, exploiting loopholes and worse since the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned a two-year Uefa ban and cleared them of breaking the financial fair play rules.

Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho led the English protests against the verdict, even though they have still not seen the court’s reasons for its verdict – which are now a week overdue.

And long-time City critic Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, also refused to accept the outcome, even suggesting CAS was no longer fit for purpose. But Guardiola says City are taking no notice of the bitterness, and the desire to rub noses in it is not a factor in the club’s drive for success in the competition.

City defend a 2-1 lead from the first leg when Real Madrid arrive at the Etihad Stadium on August 7, and if they go through they will be in a Portugal-based tournament for the last eight, which starts the following week.

Guardiola said the lingering hostility over the Uefa decision and its reversal will play no part in their psychology.

“This issue is over,” he said. “Uefa accused us of not being fair in what we had done in our process, and afterwards independent judges said we were right. It’s a chapter that is over for me.

“The rumours will always be there, in the past. It’s not a situation that is now, it seems a long time since it happened.

“But we are happy because we showed to the world that we are clean, that we have done properly, when people ask about that.

“We followed completely the rules of financial fair play, but even with that we know what happens afterwards when people talk about this. But it doesn’t mean more satisfaction, or less satisfaction for winning it or not.”

He said that the motivations his players will take onto the field in under two weeks time are the usual ones, and he is just happy that they will play in the Champions League next season as well.

“The satisfaction is that we won on the pitch the right to play next season and ourselves, Liverpool and the other ones know how difficult it is,” he said. “Next season we will be in the Champions League because we won it on the pitch.” “That is our satisfaction. “Next season is another season but now we have a very important game and with great joy we will prepare and try to go to Lisbon, like Madrid always expect to go there too.”

We showed to the world that we are clean, that we have done things properly

Pep Guardiola