Just days before the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League is set to begin, Manchester City learned they would be knocked out of the competition for the next two seasons for “serious breaches” of UEFA financial rules.
BREAKING: Manchester City banned from Champions League for two seasons by UEFA and fined 30 million euros
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) February 14, 2020
It’s absolutely devastating for a club with ambitions as high as Paris Saint-Germain’s to be banned from the most prestigious cup competition in club football. Of course, City will appeal the decision and its possible the punishment could be reduced to a year, but the stain will linger in Manchester for years to come.
Many on Twitter are already speculating that PSG could be the next to be slapped on the wrist, but there’s no indication that there’s been any wrongdoing in the French capital and in fact, they’ve been cleared of breaking UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. Plus, it helps to have a member of your club on the UEFA executive committee. Be smarter next time, City…
The penalty to Manchester City could have an impact on PSG in another way though. If PSG falls short of their Champions League goal this season, Thomas Tuchel could be relieved of his duties as manager leaving a vacancy at one of the biggest clubs in Europe with Champions League football to offer. Who might be interested in that?
Well, if the two-year ban is upheld, it’s hard to imagine Pep Guardiola would want to stick around in Manchester for that long. Signing marquee players would become very difficult with that dark cloud hanging over the club and winning the Premier League just got a lot harder with the resurgence of Liverpool FC who currently holds a 22-point lead over City.
If Leonardo, PSG’s sporting director, and club president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, tell Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappé that they intend to sign Guardiola this summer, that could be enough to convince them to sign contract extensions. We know that Mbappé would welcome that move after his public altercation with Tuchel on the sideline after being taken off early against Montpellier HSC earlier this month.
In a perfect world, PSG would win the Champions League under Tuchel, however, if that doesn’t happen, Guardiola could be a nice backup plan.
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