Porto lay into Man City in a bitter new Champions League rivalry with newsletter ripping into Fernandinho, who ‘lacks class and insight’, slamming Bernardo Silva’s ‘racism’ and calling Pep Guardiola ‘lucky’
- Manchester City were held to goalless draw at Porto in the Champions League
- The result means City have qualified for the last-16 stage as Group C winners
- Porto also qualify at runners-up but they have blasted City in a newsletter
Porto have sensationally released a newsletter slamming Manchester City as the war of words now extends to beyond their two managers.
City were held to a goalless draw in Portugal – a result that confirmed their place in the last 16 of the competition as group winners. It also guaranteed Porto’s place in the next round as runners-up too.
However, the two group fixtures between the pair have been tetchy affairs and the animosity has only developed following Tuesday night’s stalemate.
Bernardo Silva (left) and Pep Guardiola have come under criticism from Porto in a newsletter
Fernandinho (left) has also come under-fire by the Portuguese giants in a damning assessment
The Portuguese giants have blasted City midfielder Fernandinho for lacking ‘class or insight’ while Bernardo Silva and Pep Guardiola are also in the firing line.
As detailed by A Bola, Porto have hit back at Fernandinho after he had critcised them for diving a lot during Tuesday’s match.
Those accusations did not sit well with Porto who slammed the Brazilian adding that he was lucky to not be sent off.
‘The dismissal of Fernandinho was spared, who from the age of 35 is a clear example that money in football counts a lot, but does not buy class or understanding.’
However, commenting about Silva the club are most damning as they reference his one-game ban for racism last year.
Porto claim that Fernandinho was lucky not to be sent off during Tuesday night’s goalless draw
In November 2019, Silva was banned for one match and fined £50,000 after an FA commission accepted he ‘did not intend’ a tweet about team-mate Benjamin Mendy to be ‘racist’.
Silva compared Mendy to the character on a packet of Conguitos – a chocolate brand available in Spain and Portugal.
Silva deleted the post 46 minutes after he published it before tweeting: ‘Can’t even joke with a friend these days.’
However, Porto have dragged that up in the newsletter by describing him as someone ‘known internationally for having been convicted of racism’.
And detailing City’s display at the Estadio do Dragao, Porto brandish Guardiola and his team as ‘lucky’.
Last November, Silva was fined £50,000 & banned for a game for a tweet to Benjamin Mendy
Silva compared his Manchester City team-mate to the character on a packet of Conguitos
‘The coach and players – who also struggled to cope with the result – should even be grateful for the luck they had with refereeing again. After the scandals of the game England [Manchester City won that fixture 3-1], this time a penalty for Ederson is still more than obvious than the Otavio one.’
The club’s damning newsletter comes just hours after Porto manager Sergio Conceicao reignited his war of words with Guardiola in his post-match press conference – goading him for not being able to beat his side, despite having the greater resources.
Asked if he thinks Guardiola would be unhappy with the draw, Conceicao quipped back in a flash interview with ELEVEN: ‘I would be too if I couldn’t win with the team I have and the budget I have.’
The pair do not see eye-to-eye after Conceicao claimed that Guardiola applies undue pressure on officials.
Porto manager Sergio Conceicao mocked Guardiola for failing to beat his side on Tuesday
In the reverse fixture in October, City came from behind to win 3-1 at the Etihad on a night that left Conceicao incensed by Guardiola’s ‘extremely unpleasant behaviour’ on the touchline.
The pair repeatedly clashed, with Guardiola accused of ‘speaking about our country using ugly words’ during spats between the two benches.
‘I don’t agree with him, it’s not true,’ Guardiola hit back during his pre-match press conference on Monday. ‘We didn’t pressure the referee, we are not a team who do this kind of thing. It’s not a part of who we are.
‘The five years we are here – and before then in Germany or Spain – our behaviour speaks for itself.’
Guardiola makes his point to Conceicao during Manchester City’s 3-1 win vs Porto in October
The two managers argued repeatedly during the game at the Etihad Stadium with Conceicao accusing Guardiola of putting pressure on officials with his comments
