The Manchester City boss says that everybody is involved in “situations” in a thinly-veiled shot at the Barca president.

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Pep Guardiola has fired back at Josep Maria Bartomeu after the Barcelona president praised the sanctions levied against Manchester City by UEFA.

UEFA announced on Friday that Manchester City have been banned from competing in the Champions League for two years while handing down a €30 million fine (£25m/$33m) to the Premier League champions.

The ban stems from violations of Financial Fair Play with UEFA finding City guilty of “overstating its sponsorship revenue” between 2012 and 2016.

In the aftermath of that ruling, both Guardiola and Manchester City have vigorously defended the club, with all involved insisting that the club is innocent and will serve no ban.

Bartomeu, meanwhile, defended his own club following their own recent controversy as Barcelona’s president denied reports that a social media contractor was hired to discredit Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola and others associated with the Catalan side.

In addition to that denial, Bartomeu congratulated UEFA for their ruling following the Manchester City announcement while stating his support of FFP rules.

“It is a club in which there are traditions, owned by 144,000 members, and it is a club in which democratic principles and freedom of expression are held deep within. It is a club run with rigour, always,” Bartomeu said.

“In this regard, we thank UEFA, who in recent years has been so sure to follow up on Financial Fair Play.

“At Barca, we have been following it and we have regular investigations or we have meetings at UEFA to explain how we are doing it. From here we want to support UEFA for all the good it does in football.”

On Wednesday, Guardiola snapped back at his former club, firing a thinly-veiled shot at Bartomeu in the process.

“I don’t know if they spy on me but they know me, it’s not necessary to spy on me,” Guardiola said following Manchester City’s 2-0 win over West Ham.

“If they’re happy that we are suspended I would say to the president of Barca to give us two appeals. I ask right now that the people trust what they (City) have done.

“Don’t talk too loud, Barcelona, that’s my advice, because everybody is involved in situations.

“We’re going to appeal and hopefully in the future we can play in the Champions League against Barcelona.”

Manchester City will face Leicester over the weekend before taking on Barca’s fiercest rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League in their round of 16 tie.

Source – Goal.com