Pep Guardiola bites back and says Manchester City’s success is making ‘elite clubs uncomfortable’

Pep Guardiola slammed ‘whispering’ rivals across the Premier League and Europe as the Manchester City manager came out swinging following the club’s successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Guardiola, free of legal shackles after Monday’s verdict, took aim at La Liga president Javier Tebas and a collection of clubs across the continent.

Eight Premier League teams penned a joint letter to CAS opposing the prospect of City applying to freeze the two-year suspension prior to June’s hearing. Guardiola took no time in voicing his displeasure, moments after Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho had both made their feelings clear.

Pep Guardiola has bitten back after Manchester City’s European ban was overturned 

‘Yesterday was a good day for football,’ Guardiola said, countering Klopp’s earlier claims. ‘We played with the same rules as everyone. If we break it then we would’ve been banned.

‘Don’t go behind (us) and start whispering, seven or eight clubs, on what we should do. Our reputation was damaged. 

‘Now we show that they were not true. The people should accept it. We should complain and we aren’t. The other (clubs) should say much more on this.

‘I know that for elite clubs like Liverpool, United, Arsenal, it is uncomfortable us being here but they have to understand we deserve to be with them and fighting for the achievements that they have achieved in the past. 

City’s two-year ban was overturned on appeal by to Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS)

‘This guy, Senor Tebas, must be so jealous. He’s an incredible legal expert, from what I see. I’ll ask him next time which court we have to go. He has to be a bit more worried and concerned about La Liga. When the sentence is good for him, it’s perfect. When it’s against, it’s a problem.

‘We defended ourselves because we believed what we did was right. The three judges said we were appropriate.

‘But we were damaged. The people said we were cheating, lying, many times. The presumption of innocence was not there. We’re incredibly happy because we can defend what we’ve done on the pitch.’