I'm glad that Roberto has spoken out about this silly bigmouthed German fuck....i'm sick of his shit re FFP and City. And that prick from Napoli gets a bit too. Good lad Bobby
Play fair, Bayern! Mancini hits out and says 'I've had enough of Munich's spending jibes'
If Napoli beat Villarreal in Spain, as expected, then whatever happened on the field at the Etihad Stadium would have been irrelevant to Champions League Group A.
The Italian club will follow Bayern Munich into the knockout phase of the competition and Manchester City will be left to contemplate a Thursday night programme in the Europa League.
In the corridors of City’s splendid stadium, though, there looks set to be a confrontation worth watching.
City manager Roberto Mancini has, it appears, had enough of listening to suggestions from Wednesday's opponents that his club’s spending is not good for the European game. In short, it seems Mancini and Bayern president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge are about to clash.
‘I don’t understand Rummenigge’s behaviour against Manchester City,’ said Mancini. ‘For six months he talks against us every time for Financial Fair Play and he continues to say he hopes Napoli go through to the second stage.
'I don’t know what’s different with us. I think Manchester City are working for this FFP for the next two years. But I don’t understand what is happening with Rummenigge. Tomorrow I will find him, will ask him.’
Ahead of the game, Rummenigge expressed his hope that UEFA exclude City from European competition if — as expected — the Barclays Premier League leaders fail to meet FFP guidelines when they are introduced in 2014. The governing body intend only to fine first offenders if they can show they are taking necessary steps to balance their books.
It is not the first time the former German centre forward has been critical of City, nor are Bayern the only side in Group A to have expressed concerns over the English club’s financial might.
In the wake of his team’s potentially decisive win over City in Italy two weeks ago, Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis was scathing and even suggested owner Sheik Mansour of Abu Dhabi may sell the club if Champions League success wasn’t forthcoming.
City will drop into the Europa League unless they beat Bayern and Villarreal avoid losing to Napoli in Spain and, though Mancini rates his team's chances at only 30%, he believes De Laurentiis has spoken with undue haste as well as little tact. "Fortunately Sheikh Mansour is not Italian," Mancini said. "First, he [De Laurentiis] has to respect Villarreal. And after that, [show respect] towards Sheikh Mansour because he [De Laurentiis] doesn't know him. Sheikh Mansour is a good man and we can't think about these stupid comments."
On Tuesday Mancini added: ‘I think every team are worried about Manchester City because Manchester City in the future could become one of the top clubs in the world. There are other teams in Europe that have a problem with Financial Fair Play, not only Manchester City.’
At their press conference in Manchester, the German club had no appetite for furthering the debate. ‘This is nothing to do with me,’ said coach Jupp Heynckes.
Nevertheless, Bayern will undoubtedly take pleasure from seeing City exit the competition if indeed things go the way most expect them to in Villarreal.
Ever since Bayern beat City 2-0 in Bavaria in September, Mancini’s team have been struggling in their debut season in this competition. If they win tonight, they will have 10 points — viewed by most as the benchmark for qualification.
But if Napoli build on their 2-1 defeat of City by beating a team without a point from five games then City will be out. ‘We knew it would be a difficult group,’ reflected Mancini. ‘But we have made some mistakes. A team like us should not lose two games out of five.
‘We have players with experience in the Champions League, but as a group we don’t and, for that reason, we have made mistakes. If we go through it will be a big problem for the other teams, but it’s an “if”.
'If Napoli don’t beat Villarreal and we win it will be an important moment for us. But the Champions League is difficult. We’re a better team than Napoli, but if they go through they’ll deserve it and we must accept this.’
Mancini will be without injured full backs Aleksandar Kolarov and Micah Richards tonight, however Bayern winger Arjen Robben has stayed in Germany with flu.
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