Pep Guardiola has demanded Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho apologise after the rival coaches criticised the decision to overturn Manchester City’s European football ban.
City will be permitted to compete in next season’s Champions League after their two-year ban from UEFA over Financial Fair Play breaches was removed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
Guardiola, while he refused to discuss what it means for his future, said he is ‘incredibly happy’ about the decision, adding that winning their bid to overturn the sanction was ‘a good day for football’.
However, Klopp and Mourinho do not agree.
The Liverpool boss has said that while he is ‘happy’ City will not be getting an advantage in the title race next season by sitting out of Europe, the decision was ‘not a good day for football’.
Mourinho was more direct with his criticism, the Tottenham chief labelling the decision a ‘disgrace’, saying it marks the ‘end of FFP’, and referring to the whole scenario as a ‘circus’.
MORE: Read what Mourinho and Klopp had to say about City’s overturned UEFA ban
And Pep feels they both owe City an apology.
“We should be apologised to,” the Spaniard said in response to Klopp and Mourinho’s comments.
“If we did something wrong we would accept the decision from UEFA, because we did something wrong.
“We don’t expect Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea or Wolves to defend us, but we have the right to defend ourselves when we believe what we have done is correct and three independent judges said this.
“I am incredibly happy for the decision. It shows what all the people said about the club wasn’t true. What we won the pitch we defend on the pitch.”
Guardiola feels as if a weight has been lifted from the club, adding: “People cannot understand how difficult it was for everyone as a club being under suspicion. Now we have proven it at the court, we go again on the pitch.
“Today is a good day, yesterday was a good day for football because we play by the same rules as all the clubs in Europe.
“If we had broken FFP, we would have been banned but we have to defend ourselves because we were right.
“We can play in the Champions League next season because what we have done is right. They have to accept it, go on the pitch and play against us.”
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However, the manager was unwilling to discuss the implications of the ruling for his own future at the club.
Guardiola, who has already entered the final year of his £20million-a-year contract, was linked with an exit from the club if their ban was upheld, but he may now be tempted to commit after being let off the hook.
“Now is not the time,” he said.
“We have one month in front of us. One year for a manager is a long, long time and the decisions we thought to do before the sentence it was quite similar now.
“I was happy before and now. We have time to talk about this.”
