The City manager used Arsenal and Manchester United supporters to explain why he believes the controversy has been harder on fans than on players.
Enzo Maresca has acknowledged that, if he were an Arsenal or Manchester United supporter, he could call Manchester City “cheats” after his club were found guilty of unprecedented cheating.
Speaking before City’s Champions League meeting with Paris Saint-Germain, Maresca argued that the controversy surrounding the case had been more difficult for supporters than for him or his players.
“It probably has been more tough for our fans than for the players or for me as it’s more complicated,” he said, “because if I am an Arsenal fan or a United fan and you are a City fan, I can tell you: ‘Hey, my friend, you cheat’ – or this kind of thing.
“But we were happy at the end of the game and inside the changing room. We were very happy celebrating the three points because we know how difficult it is at Anfield.”
The comments came after City beat Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday. Their players were booed and subjected to chants of “Going down, going down!” as football awaits the sanctions that should follow the guilty verdict.
Maresca also defended his players for celebrating the victory.
Asked about criticism of their reaction at Anfield, he said:
“We won 0-3 at Anfield,” Maresca said. “Even if it was 0-1, it would be exactly the same. We are here today to win tomorrow’s game and we work every day to win games.
“It’s the only thing that we can think; we can be focused. The rest is just things from outside that we need to deal with but we were so happy inside the pitch and you cannot imagine inside the changing room.”
Given how City have behaved since the verdict was delivered, this is probably the closest we will get to someone at the club actually acknowledging what they have done.
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