Pep Guardiola

Manchester City's two-year suspension from European football was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday, allowing the club to compete in next season's elite Champions League competition.

CAS ruled that City did not breach Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules by disguising equity funding as sponsorship. Sport's highest court also reduced a fine for failing to cooperate with UEFA to $11.3 million from $34 million. 

Manchester City will attempt to overturn their two-year UEFA ban from European football when a three-day hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland begins on Monday.

European soccer's governing body UEFA ruled in February that City had committed serious breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and failed to cooperate with its investigation, handing them a ban and a $34 million fine.

Joan Laporta has said he will seek to bring former manager Pep Guardiola back to Barcelona if his bid to return as president of the LaLiga club in 2021 is successful, Spanish media reported. 

Laporta was Barcelona president from 2003 to 2010 and was at the helm when Guardiola was promoted from the youth team to manager of the senior team in 2008. 

The mother of Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has died after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, the English Premier League champions said on Monday. 

"The Manchester City family are devastated to report the death today of Pep's mother Dolors Sala Carrió in Manresa, Barcelona after contracting coronavirus. She was 82-years-old," City said in a post on their official Twitter account. "Everyone associated with the club sends their most heartfelt sympathy at this most distressing time to Pep, his family and all their friends." 

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola have each donated $1.08 million towards the fight against coronavirus. Argentina international Messi’s donation will be split between Hospital Clinic in Barcelona and another medical center in his home country, according to a report in MARCA. 

Heading into Wednesday’s Champions League Round of 16 first leg between Real Madrid and Manchester City, the narrative centered around the contrasting styles of managers Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola. In essence, how would the laissez-faire approach of Zidane, which yielded back-to-back-to-back titles in this competition between 2016 and 2018, fare against the meticulous neuroticism of Guardiola, which hasn’t earned the Spaniard Old Big Ears since 2011. 

For once, UEFA has shown it’s got a bit of a spine. After years of failing to truly punish violators of Financial Fair Play, UEFA handed down its biggest penalty yet, banning Manchester City from the Champions League for two seasons on Friday. The English club was also fined $32.5 million. The Man City UCL ban is subject to appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

BREAKING: Manchester City banned from Champions League for two seasons by UEFA and fined 30 million euros

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has escaped any sanctions from the Football Association for turning himself into the Meme Lord during Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool. 

After being booked for diving in the first half, Sadio Mané sparked Liverpool to a yet another dramatic, come-from-behind victory. The Liverpool winger set up the equalizer and scored the winner in the closing minutes of a 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday at Villa Park.

Almost immediately after, he was being attacked for diving by the manager — of next week’s match.