Guardiola expected at City home game after financial verdict

Pep Guardiola is expected to attend City’s next home match since the verdict against the club, Sky Sports reports. His anticipated appearance comes after City were found guilty of multiple breaches of Premier League financial rules following a lengthy investigation. The club has appealed and denies the charges against it.

Guardiola, who led City through a successful decade in charge, won six Premier League titles and a Champions League with the club. After the ruling, he publicly backed the board and supporters, saying he remained entirely behind the team.

The former manager is also expected at next week’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain, which would be his first appearance at the Etihad Stadium since he left last summer. He is expected to be there on October 14, when Enzo Maresca’s side face Paris Saint-Germain. City are due to resume their domestic campaign away at Liverpool beforehand.

Gary Lineker called on City to own its mistakes and accept any punishment «for the good of the game». The former England captain also said the situation «obviously looks really bad for Manchester City, and bad for the game, too». On talk of a supposed Premier League «conspiracy», he said he thought it was «the last thing in the world» the league would want.

Asked whether City could be stripped of the three league titles it won during the period in question, Lineker said he would not be surprised if matters went that way, while warning that players and supporters would suffer. The allegations against City concern financial regulations over the 2009-10 to 2017-18 period.

Kyle Walker, who spent eight years at Manchester City before leaving in 2025, also discussed the appeal process and the memories of the trophies won. He said former players found the subject difficult to address: they want to be seen as winners who earned their honours «the right way». Walker also recalled the hard work involved and supporters travelling to Istanbul for the treble, adding that those memories could not be taken away.

In a statement released last Friday, City said the opinion contained, in the club’s view, significant errors of law, principle and fact. The club says it is innocent of the Premier League’s accusations and maintains that irrefutable evidence supports its positions.