Maresca welcomes Guardiola back to 'his house' ahead of City's PSG showdown

Enzo Maresca has described Pep Guardiola’s imminent return to the Etihad Stadium as ‘exciting for everyone’, saying the Spaniard’s decade of success means it remains ‘his house’ ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

Guardiola, who resigned as City manager in May after winning 17 major trophies across 10 years, is expected to attend the match — his first visit to the ground since his emotional farewell. Maresca, his former assistant, has since guided City to eight wins from nine games in charge.

“I spoke with Pep after the United game,” Maresca told a press conference. “In case he is coming, it is a nice feeling, especially for him — it has been his house for 10 years. It is still his house for what he has done here. I think it is exciting for everyone.”

Maresca added that he was unsure of Guardiola’s exact plans. “I don’t know if he is coming straight to the stadium or if he is coming to the training ground — I don’t have any idea. It is exciting for everyone, for the fans, but I don’t know Pep’s plans at the moment.”

Guardiola’s return comes at a turbulent moment for the club. City were recently found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules across 114 charges — a verdict the club deny and have appealed. UEFA’s threat of a Champions League ban also looms in the background.

The press conference was dominated by questions relating to those charges, as well as criticism directed at City’s players and supporters for celebrating Sunday’s 3-0 win at Anfield, which kept them top of the Premier League table.

“Criticised for what? We won 0-3 at Anfield — what do you want us to do?” Maresca said. “And even if it was 0-1 it would be exactly the same. We want to win tomorrow’s game. We work every day to win games. The rest is things from outside we need to deal with.”

Defender Ruben Dias, who sat alongside Maresca at the briefing, spoke openly about how the squad is processing the ongoing legal situation. “Personally, and I really feel like I speak for the whole group, we trust the club,” Dias said. “We’re very calm and very focused on enjoying football. We know the team we’ve got, we want to make the most out of it, we want to win — and that’s the only thing in our mind.”