Enzo Maresca described the feeling in the Manchester City team as “fantastic” as they prepare to face Liverpool in his first game since the club was found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules.
The The Premier League confirmed in a statement on September 29 that, following a ruling by the independent commission, City had been found guilty of all but one charge of financial misconduct brought against the club.
Among the breaches were the creation of “bogus” contracts to help inflate income and cut costs by more than £900m over nine years covering the 2009-10 season to the 2017-18 campaign.
The city has appealed the decision, and its future at the highest level depends on the outcome of this process and the possible sanctions issued.
Maresca’s men could hardly face a worse first leg since the Premier League decider as they travel to what is sure to be a very emotional Anfield.
With City having finished ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in exciting title races in 2018-19 and 2021-22, the visitors can expect to face a ferocious atmosphere from a home crowd fueled by the feeling that these titles should have belonged to Liverpool.
However, Maresca does not seem discouraged by this prospect, which makes it clear that spirits are high on the field amid the crisis the club is experiencing.
“It feels great, to be honest,” Maresca said in one interview with the club’s internal media ahead of the match with the reds of Andoni Iraola.
“The players are excited for the next two games. But mostly they are excited because we are at the top of the league at the moment. The players are focused only on that.”
“They know that what we can control is football, they don’t care about different things at all.
“They know their profession and they know there is noise, but they don’t care too much about the noise.
“At the moment they are just focused on how we can beat Liverpool and how, together with the fans, we can try to win at Anfield.”
City sit top of the Premier League with a three-point lead over Arsenal, who open weekend action against Leeds United earlier on Saturday.