Manchester City captain Rúben Dias and manager Enzo Maresca have defended the club’s celebrations at Anfield following their 3-0 victory over Liverpool.
MANCHESTER: Manchester City captain Ruben Dias said on Tuesday “people don’t love us winning and we love to win”, as he robustly defended his club’s raucous celebrations after beating Liverpool, despite being found guilty of a catalogue of Premier League financial rules breaches.
City were jeered throughout by Liverpool fans during a 3-0 win at Anfield last weekend that left them top of the Premier League table, three points clear of reigning champions Arsenal, with six wins from six matches.
It was City’s first game since being found guilty of more than 100 charges relating to breaches of the English top-flight’s financial fair-play rules.
City have appealed the verdict, with every match featuring the team now played under a huge cloud of uncertainty.
Enzo Maresca’s men will be back in European action on Wednesday when they are at home to holders Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Both clubs are bankrolled by wealthy owners from the Gulf, with City backed by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi while PSG are financed by the Qatari state.
“I really feel like I speak for the whole group, we trust the club,” insisted Dias, despite City being found guilty of 34 charges of failing to cooperate with the league’s investigation.
The Portugal defender added: “If there’s more or less noise or whatever the reason the noise is, at the end of the day it’s all the same, same as before, because people don’t love us winning and we love to win.”
City faced criticism for the exuberant way they celebrated victory over 10-man Liverpool.
But unapologetic City manager Enzo Maresca said: “Criticised for what? We won 3-0 at Anfield. What do you want us to do? Even if it was 1-0, it would be exactly the same.
“We work every day to win games. It’s the only thing that we can think about and be focused (on).”
Dias backed Maresca by saying: “To win at Anfield in whatever circumstance, whether it’s earlier in the season or later in the season, we will enjoy it just as much.
“We will celebrate however it feels in the moment and it will obviously be a show of how much it means to us.”
‘You are a cheat’
Maresca added the fall-out from the guilty verdicts was more difficult for City supporters to deal with than for his squad.
“Probably it has been more tough for our fans than for the players or for me,” he said.
“It is more complicated because if I was an Arsenal fan or United fan and you are a City fan, I can say ‘My friend, you are a cheat’ or these kinds of things. So probably, it has been more tough for them.”
PSG are bidding for a third straight Champions League title, having come from two goals down to beat City 4-2 in stunning fashion during the 2024/25 edition.
“The message for tomorrow night is quite easy, in terms of winning the perfect game because they (PSG) are the best team in Europe in this moment,” said Maresca.
“They won the last two Champions Leagues so that shows how good they are, so we need the perfect game but at the same time doing our best, I think we can beat them and be happy at the end.”
Former City manager Pep Guardiola is due to attend Wednesday’s game in what will be his first visit to the Etihad since standing down at the end of last season, with the Spaniard having already publicly backed his old club during the current crisis.
“I spoke with Pep after the (Manchester) United game,” said Maresca.
“In case he’s coming, it’s a nice feeling — especially for him, because this has been his house for 10 years with what he has done here. It’s exciting for everyone.”