Jose Mourinho has previously hit out at Pep Guardiola over Manchester City's charges. The Blues, who have always denied any wrongdoing, now face a nervous wait for their punishment after being found to have breached Premier League rules 114 times.
The panel found that City breached the regulations over nine years between 2009 and 2018, with the club originally charged in 2023. It is understood that the East Manchester side will appeal the verdict.
Guardiola legacy under scrutiny
Questions are now being raised over how, if City lose their appeal, Guardiola's legacy at the Etihad Stadium will be impacted. The Catalan won an astonishing 17 major trophies at the Etihad Stadium across 10 years.
The former Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss has always enjoyed a fierce rivalry with ex-Manchester United boss Mourinho. Guardiola was asked during a 2024 press conference about the similarities between him celebrating his six titles and Mourinho his three, joking that he hoped his reign did not end in the same manner as Mourinho's sacking.
Mourinho's scathing rebuke
That answer and Guardiola pointing out the differences on their CVs clearly touched a nerve with the Real Madrid boss, who delivered a scathing rebuke during a pre-match press conference when he was Fenerbahce manager.
He said: "Guardiola said something to me yesterday. He won six trophies and I won three, but I won fairly and cleanly."If I lost, I want to congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. I don't want to win by dealing with 150 lawsuits."
Title stripping speculation
Speculation is now growing over whether City could be stripped of titles from the period they have been found to have breached top-flight rules.
Such a scenario could see managers like Mourinho awarded winners' medals. It was almost two years ago that the now 63-year-old mischievously raised the possibility that his former club, United, could be handed the 2018 Premier League title held by City.
He said: "I think we still have a chance to win that league… and then they have to pay me the bonus and give me the medal."
Under Mourinho, United finished runners-up to City in 2018, his final full campaign in charge at Old Trafford. He was then sacked in December 2018 after a poor start to the 2018/19 campaign.
