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."
FC Dallas v Houston Dynamo: Arriola says hosts must pay supporters back
Midfielder Paul Arriola says FC Dallas need to start paying their supporters back in Saturday's Texas derby against the Houston Dynamo, having failed to impress in the early stages of the season.
Dallas sit 13th in the Western Conference standings with just five points from eight matches in 2024, their only victory coming against the San Jose Earthquakes in their season opener.
They have only taken two points from seven matches since then, putting head coach Nico Estevez under pressure.
However, Arriola says a clash with their biggest rivals at Toyota Stadium represents a chance to put things right.
"Our fans have been great all season, we haven't shown up for them. It is motivation for us to go and beat Houston on Saturday and obtain three points," he said.
Dallas were beaten 2-1 by the Colorado Rapids last time out, leading Estevez to question his players' character.
"We turned up with fear, lacking in determination and character," the Dallas boss said after that match.
"It is very difficult to play like that because Colorado are one of the hardest working teams in the league on both sides of the ball."
Houston, meanwhile, are preparing for a second straight meeting with a state rival, having suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Austin FC – their third loss of the year – last week.
Star midfielder Hector Herrera made his first appearance of the season from the bench in that match, playing 30 minutes after recovering from a groin injury.
Head coach Ben Olsen said of the Mexican's return: "You can see when he comes on the field, the game changes for the better in some areas.
"Right after he came on, the pressure was turned up on them. We got into so many dangerous spots, but still that connection in the box just wasn't there."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
FC Dallas – Petar Musa
Musa is the only Dallas player with multiple goals to his name in MLS this season, having netted his second goal of 2024 in last week's loss to Colorado.
Can he provide attacking inspiration for a team with just seven goals in eight games this year?
Houston Dynamo – Hector Herrera
While it remains to be seen whether Herrera is ready for a start, he could have a sizeable impact upon his return to action.
Last season, the Mexican led all Houston players for chances created (77), passes into the final third (835) and assists (13) in MLS play.
MATCH PREDICTION – FC DALLAS WIN
Dallas have made their second-worst start to an MLS campaign, only taking fewer than five points by this stage of a season when they earned four in 2009. They did, however, go on to make the playoffs that year.
With home advantage on their side, perhaps things will start to turn on Saturday. The Dynamo haven't won consecutive away MLS matches within a single season for almost 11 years, and they won their last road game 2-1 against Minnesota United.
Dallas tend to turn up for the derby, having gone unbeaten through their last 13 regular-season home matches against Houston (eight wins, five draws) in a run which stretches back to September 2011.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
FC Dallas – 44.6%
Houston Dynamo – 26.5%
Draw – 28.9%
Guardiola insists Man City share same title hunger as challengers
Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City share the same hunger to lift the Premier League trophy as their title rivals, warning perfection may still be needed for the champions to retain their crown.
It has been a mixed week for City's rivals thus far, with Arsenal thrashing Chelsea 5-0 on Tuesday before Liverpool suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat in Wednesday's Merseyside derby at Everton.
Those results mean the Gunners sit four points clear of City and Liverpool lead the champions by one, but with two games in hand, the title race is still very much in City's hands.
They go to Brighton and Hove Albion on Thursday before facing Nottingham Forest on Sunday, and Guardiola still thinks even the slightest slip-up could prove costly.
Asked whether City need to win their six remaining games to win the title, Guardiola said: "Yes, absolutely. They gave us a chance, with the fact they lost last week to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.
"But we knew what we had to do before those games, and now we have to win all games so that at the end, we have it in our hands to retain our title.
"Nothing changes. The fact is, we knew what we had to do before, and now nothing has changed."
Guardiola was then asked whether City are as motivated to win the title as their rivals, having lifted the trophy in five of their seven seasons under him to date.
He said: "I would not be here [if not]. There are so many games, and to be in this position after what we have done in the past, it would not be possible [without the desire].
"We know the difficulty is extreme, and it will remain difficult because we have tough games coming up. We go one game at a time, and we know that if we lose, it will be so tough to retain the title.
"Last Saturday proved the many difficulties we have, especially the schedule and recovery time after the game against [Real] Madrid. The players were unbelievable."
Guardiola hit out at the busy nature of the schedule after Saturday's FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea, saying he couldn't understand how his players had managed to perform just three days after their penalty shoot-out defeat to Madrid.
Those comments have sparked renewed debate about the football calendar, and Guardiola was asked whether elite clubs had a right to complain while organising money-spinning pre-season tours around the globe.
"Yeah, but we have to do it," he said. "We have to pay the salaries of the players and the manager, and the club has fans all around the world who want to see us. They are an income for us.
"It's not easy, but we have to get resources. I would love to say don't go to another continent to play, have another week of holiday, and then train here. But we have to understand the club.
"It's not just Man City. Every club needs those financial resources to be sustainable. Now that we've won a lot, for many years, we have a lot of supporters. That's why it's necessary to do, and you have to adapt.
"But that is not the reason why [he complained]. The reason is that the schedule is so tight. I'm sorry, it's not."
Xavi commits U-turn and elects to stay at Barcelona
Barcelona head coach Xavi will continue in his role next season after an unexpected reversal of his decision to leave at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, according to widespread reports.
The former Barcelona midfielder announced in January that he would walk away from the job at the end of the current season, even though his contract was due to run until the end of the following term.
Xavi acknowledged the Barcelona role had taken its toll but reportedly changed his plans after a meeting with Blaugrana president Joan Laporta on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old was initially appointed as Barca coach in 2021 before leading the LaLiga giants to the top-flight title in the 2022-23 campaign.
Xavi's initial announcement of his intentions to depart Barcelona came after a tough period following defeats to Girona, Real Madrid and Athletic Club before revealing the news in the aftermath of a 5-3 loss to Villarreal.
The Blaugrana turned their fortunes around after that decision became public, though, going 13 games unbeaten across all competitions.
Unsurprisingly, that run encouraged Laporta, vice president Rafa Yuste and sporting director Deco to plead with Xavi to continue until the end of his agreed contract.
Though that undefeated streak ended with a 4-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain that dumped Barcelona out of the Champions League quarter-finals, Xavi has now agreed to stay in his role.
The league title is almost out of reach this term, however, as Real Madrid moved 11 points clear of second-placed Barca with Sunday's 3-2 Clasico victory.
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