Luis Enrique backs Manchester City after guilty verdict on 114 financial breaches

On Tuesday, on the eve of the Champions League meeting at the Etihad, Luis Enrique was asked about Manchester City, found guilty of 114 financial breaches. The PSG head coach defended the football the club have played for years: “There is always a lot of noise around the big clubs. That is what Manchester City are going through. (…) We wait, and I hope everything ends well for Manchester City. For me, they deserved to win all the trophies they have won, but we have to wait for what the judges decide.”

He added, at his press conference: “If I only talk about football, about what I have seen on the pitch, Manchester City deserve their trophies. (…) I hope they avoid this sanction.”

A sanction still to come

The breaches run from 2009 to 2018: inaccurate financial information, details of payments to players and managers left undeclared. Franceinfo counts 114 breaches, Foot Mercato 115. Eight trophies, including three Premier League titles, are at risk. No sanction has been set: the club contests the findings and appealed before knowing its punishment. Foot Mercato points to a “spectre of particularly heavy sanctions”, from major financial penalties to a points deduction.

City manager Enzo Maresca, quoted by franceinfo, shifts the focus: “I promise you I worry a lot about the game plan and about how we can train every day. But I don’t stress about things I can’t control.”

The pitch moved faster than the courts

The football answered the next evening: PSG won 4-2 at the Etihad, on their first European away trip of the season, three goals clear by half-time. Paris host Barcelona at the Parc des Princes next week. City host Ipswich on Saturday in the Premier League.

The market, meanwhile, has not punished City either. Their price for the visit of Ipswich has stayed at 1.26 with 1xbet, shortened from an opening 1.29: the defeat by Paris and the case file have not moved it. PSG’s price for the trip to Strasbourg has not moved since the market opened either, at 1.46 with 1xbet. Our full reads on both games are live: Strasbourg vs Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City vs Ipswich.