Luis Enrique hopeful Manchester City can avoid sanctions after guilty verdict

PSG manager Luis Enrique said on Tuesday at a news conference at Etihad Stadium that he hopes Manchester City can avoid sanctions after the club was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, ahead of City's Champions League home match against PSG on Wednesday (20:00 BST). It is City's first home match since the independent commission found the club guilty of the majority of 115 charges.

An independent commission concluded City had broken rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 by creating "sham" contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel more than £830m into their football operations. Manchester City insist they are innocent and have appealed the verdict.

"There is a lot of noise around Manchester City and there is often noise around big clubs," Enrique said. "We just have to wait and see what the final decision will be. I hope everything works out well for Manchester City because I think what they have done on the pitch has been incredible over the last few years and they certainly deserved to win on the pitch all the trophies they have won."

"The first thing that you hear, it is a surprise, but we need to respect the process and wait for the final decision," Enrique added. "The authorities are responsible for making these decisions. But speaking only about football, they deserved those trophies. I love their football. Beyond that, we have to wait for the decision."

Enrique is friends with former City boss Pep Guardiola, who is expected to make his first return to Etihad Stadium on Wednesday since leaving at the end of last season after winning 20 trophies in 10 years. Manchester City were bought for £200m in 2008 by Abu Dhabi United Group, owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan - a senior member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, who is a current vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. PSG, who have won back-to-back Champions Leagues, are owned by Qatar Sports Investment.

Both Manchester City and PSG were fined in 2014 by Uefa for breaching financial rules; PSG insisted at the time they had always operated within the regulations. Asked whether it was a good time to face City given the off-field issues, France forward Ousmane Dembele said: "It is always difficult regardless of it being a good moment or a bad moment," and added, "They have a high quality team, world-class players and a top coach as well. It doesn't really matter. It's always tough playing Manchester City."

"The trophies you win on the pitch remain on the pitch. They deserved to win that and I hope they can avoid the sanction. But we have to wait," Enrique said, as both clubs and observers await any further action or rulings; Manchester City host PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday (20:00 BST).