Last night’s goalless draw between Manchester City and FC Porto has sparked several contentious statements from the Portuguese club’s representatives. The Citizens have issued a statement on the matter.
The final whistle at Estadio do Dragao meant the beginning of an off-field clash between the clubs. Pep Guardiola believed the result had been unfair for his team. Sergio Conceicao claimed he would also be upset if he couldn’t win with a team and budget like City’s.
The manager’s remarks were far from being the end of the story. In his flash interview to Eleven Sports, Fernandinho claimed Porto’s players put too much pressure on the referee and acted like they needed an ambulance. The statement resulted in a heated response from Porto’s head of Communications. Francisco Marques said Man City’s captain should have been sent-off for an elbow to Corona’s face.
The soap opera continued as FC Porto’s newsletter heavily criticized the match’s referee Bjorn Kuipers. However, it was the club’s statement about Bernardo Silva that sparked Manchester City’s response. The newsletter called the boyhood Benfica fan “an opponent internationally known for being a convicted racist”.
Former City center-back Joleon Lescott was among the first to respond to the accusations, bringing up a past incident with Balotelli.
A City spokesperson told Sky Sports News: “This is not the first time that Porto have reacted badly in circumstances like this. On this occasion, it is the ill-judged and targeted criticism of some of our individual players and indeed our manager, which we wholly reject.”
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