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  • Colin Cranmer

"I want to stay more than ever" - Pep Guardiola pre Aston Villa Press Conference

Not many subjects for Pep Guardiola to discuss in this press conference, a fairly quiet affair, but he did slightly touch on the Premier League's charges against Manchester City.



 

Pep Guardiola:

"My first thought is we're already being condemned. It's the same with UEFA, we were already condemned. The club proved we were completely innocent. You know on what side I am [on]."
"We are lucky we live in a country where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. It seems like we have already been sentenced. What is going to happen, I don't know. We think we have good lawyers and I we are going to defend our position. Time will depend what happens. We will see what a judge, the Premier League decides. In the same way with UEFA, we are innocent."
"[If Manchester City are charged and punished] we will be back. We will get Paul Dickov and Mike Summerbee and be back."
"The club, they talk to all of us. But we have trained like normal to get ready for Aston Villa. The last seven years have been for us, our fans and our people. The court will dictate what happens. I am fully convinced that we will be innocent."

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

"It happened in UEFA and that was for one or two years. Now it has happened everyone is going to talk about it every single day. We just have to focus on the pitch. There is a long process and we know what is going to happen."
"It is difficult for me to answer this question. I don't know [if other Premier League clubs want us punished". They open a precedent right now. Be careful in the future because many clubs make suggestions and we have been accused. I can have an opinion, but what do fans think? I don't know. It is obvious the fans want to push us out of the competition. They believe we didn't behave properly."
"I am not moving from this seat, I can assure you. I want to stay more than ever. After many, many years in the Premier League I do not want to move on."
"I don't know what is going to happen. I had the same feeling with UEFA. In fact, UEFA was worse. The players are focused with their talent and their effort. We will see what happens after the sentencing. I don't want to anticipate what is going to happen."


"We are lucky we live in a marvellous country that have a society where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We didn't have this opportunity. We are already sentenced. What's going to happen I don't know. In the other side, personally I'm happy that we are here because like UEFA happened we have the chance to defend our position. We have good lawyers but we cannot say UEFA had bad lawyers and the Premier League, supported by nineteen teams, are going to take good lawyers."

The football (for the most part):

"Against nineteen teams we are alone, that's for sure. We have to beat Aston Villa, like always we have done it. Nineteen clubs are not going to help us. We won the Premier League last season on the pitch. Let us defend [the charges]. If it happens, we will accept it. But like UEFA, we will defend."
"We have to try to beat them and the players will be focused on the game. They are good in both sides [defensively and offensively]."


 

Written by: @coIgcra


Some quotes as quoted by Manchester Evening News and Manchester City.


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