Pep Guardiola took aim at Manchester City's Premier League rivals, accusing them of being behind the charges the champions face over their finances, and insisted: "More than ever I want to stay."
The City manager claimed nine Premier League teams – who he named – had tried to have City thrown out of the Champions League previously, when the club faced UEFA charges over financial fair play.
He said all 19 of City's rivals this season wanted to see the champions punished, but Guardiola is convinced City have operated by the book and will be cleared.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach then questioned what the reparations would be once City are proven not guilty and said it was clear they were already being treated as a "condemned" club.
In a fiery broadside at the rest of the English elite, Guardiola also said other clubs should be careful about pushing for action against City, suggesting they may not want their own financial affairs too closely examined.
City have been accused of over 100 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between the seasons of 2009-10 and 2017-18. Guardiola said the action had come about because City "are not part of the establishment".
"My first thought is we have already been condemned," he said. "What's happened this week after Monday is what happened with UEFA."
In 2020, City had a two-year ban from European football overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The club were fined €10million for a failure to cooperate, down from an initial €30m, but were allowed to play in UEFA's international club tournaments.
Guardiola said: "The club proved we are completely innocent.
"You have to understand that between 19 teams of the Premier League accusing us without the least opportunity to defend, and the words of my club, my owner, my chairman, my CEO, explaining everything during these three or four years, you know exactly on what side I am."
Guardiola said it felt as thought City were "already sentenced", but he takes heart from the fact City have already fought what he sees as a similar case, from which they emerged reasonably unscathed.
"I think the Premier League, supported by 19 teams, are going to take good lawyers, too, to defend their position, like we are going to defend our position," Guardiola said.
"Time will dictate what is going to happen, but just in case we are not innocent, we will accept what the judge, the Premier League decide.
"But what happens if the same situation with UEFA happens and we are innocent? What happens to restore or pay back our damage?"
He alleged Burnley, Wolves, Leicester City, Newcastle United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea had all wanted City out of the Champions League previously.
"Like Julius Caesar said, in this world there are not enemies or friends, there are just interests," Guardiola said.
In a rare lighthearted moment, he jokingly suggested City would call on club legends Paul Dickov and Mike Summerbee if they were expelled from the Premier League and sent down the divisions, but he promised the club would return to the elite.
"It's the second time of this story. We've lived this before," Guardiola added. "Between these nine teams before and these 19 teams now, the words of them or the words of my people, I'm sorry, but I rely on the words of my people.
"I'm fully convinced we will be innocent."
Guardiola said nobody could take away City's spectacular achievements over the past 15 years, during the Abu Dhabi ownership period.
And he said all the feats during his seven-and-a-half-year reign "belong to us, for our fans, for our people".
Was this all being driven by other clubs, Guardiola was asked to clarify.
"Yes, of course, it's the Premier League," he replied. "I don't know [why]. You have to go to all the CEOs, [people like Tottenham's] Daniel Levy and all these kind of people, and ask them."
Guardiola is steadfast he will not be quitting City over this matter.
"Hopefully the reason they sack me from here will be the results," he said. "I'm not moving from this seat, I can assure you. More than ever I want to stay. Sometimes I have doubts that seven years, eight years is a long time in any country.
"It's many, many years, imagine, in the Premier League, but now I don't want to move. Not because the people say, 'they lie to you, Pep'. They didn't lie to me. Look what happened with UEFA. I said to them, 'what happened?'
"They said, 'Pep, we didn't do anything wrong', and we proved it. Now it is the same case. Why should I not trust my people and trust with all of the CEOs and owners from the 19 clubs? No, I trust my people, not one second for the other ones."
Wiegman rues set-pieces as Lionesses beaten by France
Sarina Wiegman rued England's sloppyness from set-pieces, as the Lionesses' Euro 2025 qualifying hopes were dented by a 2-1 defeat to France.
England suffered their first home defeat in a qualifying match since October 2002 with Les Bleues - ironically the last nation to inflict such a loss - coming from behind to prevail at St James' Park.
The reigning European champions had the opportunity to leapfrog France to the Group A3 summit and, despite losing goalkeeper Mary Earps to injury early on, the hosts appeared on course to do just that when Beth Mead opened the scoring after half an hour.
However, they were undone by set-pieces in both halves, as goals from Elisa De Almeida and Marie-Antoinette Katoto completed the turnaround in the visitors' favour.
The Lionesses, who travel to Stade Geoffroy-Guichard for the return meeting on Tuesday, slip to third place in Group A3. And though Wiegman hailed the overall performance, she acknowledged her side must improve.
"It was frustrating," she told ITV Sport. "I think we played pretty well, we conceded two goals from set plays, which we have to do a lot better on.
"In these matches, you don't get too many chances. In the first half, we created multiple, but only scored one - and they unfortunately scored one too.
"We were more on the ball in the second half without creating too many more chances, but we were dangerous. The final pass needed to be better.
"We know France are really good at set-pieces. Of course, we were prepared, but they still got that time."
Skipper Leah Williamson added: "[We're] really disappointed, the game was there to be won. It was a fantastic occasion. The fans have never let us down, so it's a shame not to give them a win as well.
"We played well, not good enough to win the game, but the chances were there to win it. Two set-pieces have killed us. There's an element of luck to those things, but first contact and second contact need to be better. We will be better on Tuesday."
Chicago Fire v LA Galaxy: Joveljic eyeing top spot as visitors target nine-point week
Dejan Joveljic has his eyes on the Western Conference summit as LA Galaxy bid to make it a nine-point week on Saturday, when they face the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field.
The Galaxy have won back-to-back games against Houston Dynamo (2-1) and FC Dallas (3-1) and sit second in the West, just two points behind Real Salt Lake.
Greg Vanney's team have now lost just one of their last nine matches (four wins, four draws), but Joveljic wants even more, starting in Chicago.
"We would like to win four or five games in a row," the forward said. "But first, we have to win three and then we will see. We are in second place, so it's good, but it could be better.
"In the playoffs, I would like to start with the first game at home. So, that means we have to be in the top four teams but, of course, our top goal is to be first."
Chicago, meanwhile, are winless in nine MLS matches (four draws, five defeats) following their 1-1 draw with Orlando City on Wednesday.
Only the New England Revolution, with seven points, sit below them in the Eastern Conference standings. However, boss Frank Klopas has seen signs of improvement.
"I think in these last two games, we've changed how we wanted to play. We haven't got the wins, but I feel we're improving as a team," he said.
"There's a big belief in the group, but there's also frustration, for sure. There are a lot of emotions because of where we are.
"We have to keep going. It's great that we're playing on Saturday again, it's going to be a great crowd, and we have to come out with the same attitude against Galaxy."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chicago Fire – Hugo Cuypers
Cuypers scored the Fire's goal in their draw with Orlando on Wednesday.
The Belgian forward has now either scored (four) or assisted (one) five of Chicago's last nine MLS goals.
LA Galaxy – Riqui Puig
While Gabriel Pec assisted Joveljic for Galaxy's first goal on Wednesday, Puig scored the third (Joveljic netted the second from the penalty spot).
At least one of Pec or Puig have been involved in 12 of the Galaxy's last 13 non-penalty goals in MLS, including the last nine in a row.
MATCH PREDICTION – LA GALAXY
Galaxy are unbeaten in six straight MLS matches (two wins, four draws), including winning their last two in a row.
This is LA's 18th two-match winning streak since the start of the 2021 season, but Galaxy have not won three straight matches in all competitions since a four-match streak between August and September 2020.
Galaxy have a great chance to achieve that feat this week, though, with Chicago winless in nine league games. They have gone 10 or more consecutive matches without a victory in a single regular season three times before, most recently between April and May 2022.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Chicago Fire – 32.9%
LA Galaxy – 41.5%
Draw – 25.6%
Mexico 1-0 Bolivia: Experimental El Tri boost Copa America preparations with narrow win
A youthful Mexico stepped up their Copa America preparations with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bolivia in Chicago.
Efrain Alvarez's second-half strike proved enough for El Tri, who fielded eight debutants at Soldier Field.
Two of those debutants went close early on; Ricardo Monreal heading against the bar and Ettson Ayon testing Bolivia goalkeeper Carlos Lampe, while Ramiro Vaca fired over for the visitors later in the half.
However, the hosts did find the breakthrough within two minutes of the restart, as Monreal squared for Alvarez to control and finish.
El Tri, who will face Ecuador, Jamaica and Venezuela in Group B at the Copa America, will play Uruguay and Brazil before the tournament begins on June 20.
Data Debrief: Mexico maintain Bolivia dominance
Mexico are now unbeaten in each of their last 10 meetings with Bolivia, winning nine and conceding just two goals during that span.
A 3-1 reverse at the 1997 Copa America represents El Tri's only defeat in this fixture.
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