Amid the chaos and uncertainty following Manchester City’s ban from the Champions League, Pep Guardiola struck the perfect note to calm the tensions.
The club has seemingly been on war footing since Uefa announced that two-year expulsion from European football for a “serious” breach of Financial Fair Play regulations.
Within minutes, the club issued a statement describing the Adjudicatory Chamber’s investigation as “flawed” and a “prejudicial process”. That was followed by Ferran Soriano’s in-house interview hours before Wednesday night’s Premier League clash with West Ham. The CEO reiterated the stance that the allegations were not true and that the club will appeal the final decision "at the earliest opportunity."
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But Soriano has never answered questions directly from the media. Instead, it’s been left to Guardiola and his players to deal with the fallout of decisions made out of their hands and even before their time.
Following the comfortable 2-0 victory over the Hammers, the majority of players decided against offering their opinion of Uefa’s decision. Kevin De Bruyne’s response to television questions was diplomatic. “We were on holiday when the statement happened. We came back and we played football," he said.
“The situation is what it is, but we came back, trained like normal and in the end, nothing really changed for us. We just play the games that we have and today we gave a good performance.”
Guardiola though cannot avoid scrutiny. The City manager is obligated to take questions, even if the subject matter is out of his remit. Facing the media for the first time since Uefa’s punishment was announced, Guardiola was sangfroid and reassuring about his and the club’s future.
Privately he had already suggested he was going to remain at the club. Publicly, there was no doubt about it. "If they don’t sack me, which could happen, I will stay here more than ever," he said.
"First because I want to stay, not because this is something special. I want to stay longer than the contract that I have. I said before and now and until the end of my contract that I want to help the club grow and maintain this level for as long as possible.
"Why should I leave? I said before that I love this club and I like to be here so why should I leave, more than ever in this situation. I am optimistic we can finish this well.”
Guardiola was also asked to explain the club's confidence about the decision being overturned when an appeal is heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Soriano had only said earlier that: “I wish I could say more, I wish I could have been speaking five minutes after this was announced but I did have to take legal advice of what can and cannot be shared.”
Speaking shortly after the win, that he hopes will be the start of building up momentum for the Champions League last-16 clash at Real Madrid, Guardiola was equally circumspect while reflecting the positivity that surrounds the appeal process.
“I’m confident that we’ll play in Europe next season. I’m pretty sure we’ll defend our position,” he said. Prompted for details he added diplomatically: “I know a little about the reasons why and I support the club 100 per cent. I trust what they told me.”
But quizzed about the response of Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu’s support for the sanctions, Guardiola was far more bullish. “Don't talk too loud, Barcelona, that's my advice, because everybody is involved in situations,” he fired back. “We're going to appeal and hopefully in the future we can play in the Champions League against Barcelona.”
With the critics circling and looking for any hint that Guardiola could end his time at the Etihad before the final season of his five-year contract, the City boss was emphatic.
He is going nowhere and the club and his players are united as they prepare to take on the best of Europe, both on and off the pitch.
