Throw City out of Champions League over 'back-door' funding, blasts Dortmund chief

Borussia Dortmund have attacked Manchester City's reliance on Sheik Mansour ahead of the two clubs' Champions League clash on Wednesday night.
The Bundesliga champions' chief executive, Hans-Joachim Watzke, says clubs should be thrown out of the competition should they enter into big sponsorship deals with companies controlled by the same club's owners - just as City have with Etihad, whose shirt and stadium sponsorship will net the Premier League champions £350million over 10 years.
Watzke called such deals 'back-door funding' and also said he would dismiss out of hand investment from any rich foreign businessman in Dortmund, which is 51 per cent owned by its supporters.

Warming up: Roberto Mancini oversees Manchester City training ahead of the match against Dortmund

 

The German giants have strict rules on spending and are advocates of UEFA president Michel Platini's new Financial Fair Play rules, which seek to limit each club's expenditure based on its revenue.
The penalty for not complying could be expulsion from the Champions League - the biggest cash cow for Europe's elite clubs.
And the Dortmund chief says that UEFA must crack down on clubs like City and prevent them from bending the rules.
'UEFA must find the thin line between sponsorship and excessive back-door funding – they must show strength to expel big clubs,' said Watzke.
'No tycoon should be allowed to pump crazy money into a club with sponsorship from five companies he controls. If that happens, financial fair play will fail.'
Watzke cited the example of Spanish club Malaga to demonstrate what he thinks the dangers are of rich, foreign investors in football clubs.
Qatar’s Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani appeared to have lost interest and the club began selling players, such as Santi Cazorla to Arsenal, but the club insist that they are simply restructuring to fit the new FFP rules and that the Sheik is still committed to the club.
But when asked if Dortmund would talk to a potential rich investor such as Sheik Mansour or Sheik Abdullah, Watzke replied: 'I would not even welcome him.'

Tough test: Borussia Dortmund's squad in training ahead of their Champions League date in Manchester

He added: 'What if the sheikh, as shown by Malaga, lost interest?
'The fact is that the Bundesliga has caught up considerably, thanks to their sound banking practices. This will eventually be expressed by results.'
The match is likely to prove a difficult game for City against the German champions. Dortmund won the first game of their Group D campaign at home to Ajax, with Lewandowski scoring the only goal, and on Saturday they put five past Borussia Monchengladbach.

Big money: City host Dortmund at the Etihad Stadium, which is sponsored to the tune of £350m

The pressure is on Mancini and his side to make their mark on the competition after failure last season, particularly after losing their opening game 3-2 at Real Madrid last month.
Mancini has attempted to apply a touch of realism ahead of the match at the Etihad. In Madrid he had likened his side to a Ferrari. At Carrington on Tuesday he said that although ‘the moment will arrive when City can win the Champions League’, they are ‘not there yet’.
He also acknowledged what a tough challenge Jurgen Klopp’s side represent when City are looking to avoid a third consecutive home game without a win.

Danger men: Dortmund's attacking triumvirate of Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus

Borussia Dortmund have beaten Bayern Munich for the last two years,’ he said in reference to the problems his side experienced against Bayern last season.
‘For this reason I think it will be a very difficult game. In my opinion Dortmund are one of the best teams in Europe. They won the Bundesliga. They are very strong and in players like Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze they are dangerous going forward. If we concede space, like we did in Madrid, we will make it difficult for ourselves.
In Madrid the problems we had in the first half were normal. But we conceded too much space to players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the last five minutes and that made them dangerous.’