Jose Mourinho insists he only wants to see "justice" prevail following comments from Pep Guardiola accusing the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss of demanding Manchester City be relegated as punishment over 115 Premier League charges.
City await a verdict on the many alleged financial rules breaches, with potential sanctions theoretically unlimited if the club is deemed guilty of wrongdoing. The club has always protested their total innocence and the weeks-long hearing came to a conclusion in recent days.
Mourinho had irked Guardiola by suggesting that his three Premier League titles with Chelsea were won "fairly and cleanly", implying that City’s dominance hasn't been so. The charges relate to the period between 2009 and 2018, during which Guardiola won his first of six titles.
In response, the City boss claimed that Mourinho, who also previously said he would be owed a bonus by Manchester United if the 2017/18 title ended up being retrospectively handed to the Old Trafford club, wanted to see the Sky Blues forced down to League One or an even lower division.
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola suggested Mourinho is out for Man City's blood / Sebastian Frej/MB Media/GettyImages
"It's not true that I want Man City to be relegated," Mourinho said ahead of his Fenerbahce side facing Athletic Club in the Europa League, as the ongoing back and forth was put to him again.
"It's true that I like justice, and many times small clubs are punished by going €5, €10 over budget and the rules for Financial Fair Play. For example, I suffered in Roma three years with great limitation. I don't think it's fair that the big financial sharks always find a way to escape the rules.
"I'm just a football man, a man that loves football, more than being a professional football man I am very passionate, I just like justice in football. But apart from that, no bad feelings."
Mourinho and Guardiola became archenemies during the early 2010s when their respective Real Madrid and Barcelona sides were battling for Spanish and European supremacy. There were a number of ugly incidents, but Mourinho insists there is no bad blood now, pointing out that their relationship in football stretches back almost 30 years from working alongside each other.
"We were together for three years [at Barcelona]. I was an assistant and he was a player. I like him a lot and he knows that. He likes me and I know that, there are no problems between us. One thing are words and another thing is deep feelings," he said.
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