Liam Brady: Hurt of Champions League ban won’t inspire Man City to land the big prize

Even though Pep has reiterated his commitment to a club to which he is contracted until the summer of 2021, his body language this season says differently, writes Liam Brady.

When you read the damning evidence of the leaked internal club emails – published in Der Spiegel in November 2018 - which sparked Uefa’s investigation into Manchester City, it really comes as no surprise at all that they have been hit with a two-year ban from European competition for breaches of the Financial Fair Play rules.

City have, of course, vowed to put their huge financial resources into an appeal but already it looks like serious damage has been done to the club’s ambitions, with speculation now rampant about their ability to both hold onto key players and recruit top talent ahead of next season.