If Enzo Maresca was hoping for a quiet run-in to his first trip to Anfield as Manchester City boss, he was living in a fantasy world.
When the City manager sat down in front of the press pack on Friday morning, nobody was interested in asking about pressing structures, overlapping full-backs, or squad fitness. How could they be?
In what can only be described as a seismic bombshell for English football, an independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of serious, systematic breaches of the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-year period between 2009/10 and 2017/18.
The findings are damning. The commission ruled that City arranged "sham" contracts with commercial partners as part of a "disguised funding scheme" to artificially boost revenues by over £830 million (with some estimates exceeding £900m). They misstated accounts, concealed true finances, and repeatedly breached both Premier League and UEFA Financial Fair Play limits.
Now, as City prepare to step into Anfield on Sunday, Maresca was left to navigate the ultimate media trial.
Maresca defiant: "We are going to win this appeal"
Unsurprisingly, Maresca doubled down on the company line, insisting that the club’s hierarchy had his full backing and predicting a complete overturn during the appeal process.
“First of all good morning, I understand the reason why most of you are here, but the only thing I can say is something that I already said, there is a process ongoing and in this moment I completely trust the club. This is what I can say about that.”
“I trust the club because I trust the people, this is the reason why I joined the club. Then there is not another club in the world where I would like to be, I am very happy, very proud, I said many times since day one.”
When pushed on whether he had sought assurances from the Etihad boardroom following the guilty ruling, Maresca revealed he had been in direct communication with high-ranking executives:
“I spoke with the club for sure, we all trust and probably the right moment to speak about that is when we are going to win this appeal.”
"Tainted achievements?" Maresca rejects the claims
For Liverpool fans, the news of Manchester City’s financial guilty verdict brings an undeniable sense of validation after nearly a decade of sheer, unadulterated heartbreak.
During the iconic era that pitted Jürgen Klopp directly against Pep Guardiola, Liverpool achieved standard-setting perfection.
They produced teams capable of sweeping past Europe's elite, recording point tallies that would have comfortably secured the Premier League title in almost any other era in English football history. Yet time and time again, Klopp’s Reds were forced to play the role of the tragic, heroic runners-up to a machine now proven to have operated under a shadow.
The initial pain began in 2013/14 when Brendan Rodgers' side missed out on the title by two points, followed by a penalty shootout defeat to City in the 2016 League Cup final. But it was the height of the Klopp-Guardiola war that truly reshaped modern English football.
In 2018/19, Liverpool lost just one league match all season, amassing a staggering 97 points only to miss out by a single point. Three years later in 2021/22, history repeated itself in excruciating fashion when the Reds posted 92 points and again finished as runners-up by just one point.
What burned most for Liverpool supporters was the stark contrast off the pitch. Liverpool built their success through careful, sustainable management under FSG reinvesting major sales like Philippe Coutinho to sign Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.
Meanwhile, City operated on a scale that has now been officially declared unlawful, using £830m in owner-funded "sham" agreements to artificially inflate revenues.
Every single goal-line clearance, every one-point title loss, and every final-day heartbreak came against an opponent operating outside the rules everyone else was expected to follow.
As the two sides prepare to meet at Anfield on Sunday, the verdict provides the official record of what fans always suspected: Liverpool weren't just playing against a great football team, they were fighting on an un-level playing field.
When asked directly whether City's achievements during that era or the subsequent glory built on those foundations were now irrevocably tainted, Maresca offered a firm response:
“Absolutely not. The last time I was here was the treble season, I know the effort from the players, club, the manager at that time, Pep, so I know the effort that was needed to make that achievement.”
What It means for Liverpool fans
For those heading through the turnstiles at Anfield this Sunday, Maresca's comments will do little to lessen the heat.
The atmosphere was already guaranteed to be electric given the high stakes on the pitch, but this guilty verdict adds an unprecedented layer of bite to the rivalry.
When City walk out at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, they won't just be facing 11 players in Red they will be walking straight into a wall of noise built on years of frustration finally reaching its boiling point.
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