Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini says there has never been any concern that the club would be excluded from the Uefa Champions League for breaching Uefa’s financial fair play (FFP) rules.
Uefa president Michel Platini has said he does not think any of the 20 clubs being investigated for breaches will be banned from European competition next season.
City have been working with Uefa to try to ensure they comply with spending rules, which limit losses to €45 million (Dh228.7m) over the past two years.
Pellegrini said: “I felt here inside the club nobody feared we could be suspended for next year.”
Any sanctions are likely to be made public next week.
City travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday knowing that they must win if they are to have any chance of beating Liverpool to the league title.
Pellegrini said Sergio Aguero’s return from injury could prove crucial.
“It is very good to have him back because I always say Sergio is a good player, he is important, he makes a difference,” the coach said.
Pellegrini said he will not blame City’s involvement in four competitions at a time when league leaders Liverpool were only involved in one for giving Brendan Rodgers’s side the advantage.
“I think it was good to be in the four competitions for so long. We can’t now complain about being in them,” he said. “We won one [the League Cup] – now we finish the league and we’ll see what happens.”
Meanwhile, Sunderland host Cardiff City on Sunday with both teams in the bottom three. Winger Adam Johnson hopes Sunderland have scared their relegation rivals with their heroics at Manchester City and Chelsea where they took four points and gave themselves a chance of beating the drop.
“We have given everyone a scare now and the momentum should be with us,” he said. “With three home games, we couldn’t really ask for a better run-in, three home games against teams in and around us.”
* Agencies
