Paris St-Germain boss Luis Enrique says he was surprised to learn Manchester City had been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules and hopes the club can avoid sanctions.
City host European champions PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday (20:00 BST) – their first home match since being found guilty of the majority of 115 charges.
“There is a lot of noise around Manchester City and there is often noise around big clubs,” said Enrique when asked about City’s guilty verdict at a news conference at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
“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 over the last few years has been incredible, and they certainly deserved to win all the trophies they have won.
“Now we have to wait to see what the authorities decide or the judge is going to say.”
An independent commission found 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.
City insist they are innocent and have appealed.
Luis Enrique added: “The first thing that you hear, it is a surprise, but we need to respect the process and wait for the final decision.
“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.
“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 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.
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 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.
Meanwhile, France forward Ousmane Dembele was asked if now was a good time to play City with everything the club is facing off the pitch.
“It is always difficult regardless of it being a good moment or a bad moment,” said the PSG attacker.
“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.”