Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has spoken out amid the ongoing Negreira case allegations leveled against his former club Barcelona.
The tactician says that the Blaugrana didn’t win games because of receiving support from referees, as alleged, and has urged patience as the investigation continues.
Pep Guardiola, whose tenure at the Camp Nou came during this period, was queried on the subject, to which he responded (via SPORT):
“Wait and see, let justice, the process run. So far from what I have heard, I did not see or read, but I did not see Barcelona really, really, really pay a referee to take benefit. I did not se that. I did not read it.”
The Manchester City manager went on to deny that Barcelona got any preferential treatment from officials during the period. He insisted that they won games simply because they were better than their opponents and also lost when they failed to outclass rival teams.
“That’s why I want to wait before having an opinion,” Pep Guardiola continued. “Barcelona are going to defend what they have to do. We’ll see.
“What I am pretty sure of is, when Barcelona won, it was because they were better than their opponents. That I’m pretty convinced about. Right now, in our day, we won because we were far better than our rivals.”
“And when they were not, they did not win, they lost. But justice will decide what really happened,” the Manchester City boss added.
Barcelona and Manchester City off to brilliant starts this season
Despite the off-field distraction, Barca are doing well on the pitch this season. Thet lead the Liga table with 20 points from eight games, one ahead of second-placed Girona, who have a game in hand.
Xavi Hernandez’s side are unbeaten in the top flight, winning six of their eight games. They started their UEFA Champions League campaign with a 5-0 win over Royal Antwerp in the opening fixture.
Manchester City, meanwhile, are atop the Premier League with 18 points, winning all six games. They’re also started well in Europe, beating Crvena Zvezda 3-1 in their Champions League opener last week.