Stan Collymore labels Man City ‘CHEATS’ amid their 115 charges for breaching financial regulations after Champions League knockout by Real Madrid

Stan Collymore has taken a dig at Manchester City following their elimination from the Champions League by Real Madrid.

Pep Guardiola‘s side lost on penalties to the Spanish giants after their quarter-final tie ended 4-4 on aggregate.

It means there will be no Double Treble for City, who were hoping to go back-to-back in the Champions League after finally winning the competition for a first time last season.

However, City’s successes in recent years have been overshadowed as they were charged with 115 alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play rules and regulations last February, covering a period from 2009 to 2018. 

City deny the allegations, and earlier this year the Premier League revealed a date had been set for the hearing on the accusations.

City were knocked out at the quarter-final stage after losing on penalties to Real Madrid 

Former Premier League star Collymore labelled City cheats and said they were ‘not a big club’

Collymore took aim at Pep Guardiola’s side and mocked them following their elimination

However, Collymore – who played for the likes of Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Leicester and Bradford in the Premier League – wasn’t afraid to mock City after their European exit.

Posting on X, he shared photos of Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Celtic lifting the European Cup.

Accompanying the shots, he said: ‘Don’t forget kids, you’re only a big club when you’ve won the European Cup, and you’re only a really big club when you’ve done it without cheating. 

‘Innit fam. Brrraaap braaap.’

Collymore is a boyhood Aston Villa fan and one of his photos refers to Villa’s iconic 1981-82 European Cup final triumph, with Dennis Mortimer lifting the trophy.

Forest have also won the competition on two occasions, in back-to-back campaigns in 1979 and 1980, while another of the shots sees Mail Sport columnist Graeme Souness celebrating with the trophy while at Liverpool.

Collymore’s latest dig at City comes after he called for the Premier League to throw the book at them when they were initially faced with the 115 charges last year. 

Collymore’s tweet included examples of several teams winning the European Cup, such as Aston Villa’s memorable triumph back in 1982 (captain Dennis Mortimer with the trophy)

He also shared a shot of Mail Sport columnist Graeme Souness celebrating with Liverpool

City were charged by the Premier League with 115 alleged breaches of financial rules last year

Speaking to Caught Offside, he said: ‘The sad thing is, if found guilty after the investigation has concluded, it’s very likely the Citizens will face no real consequences.

‘If the regulatory bodies want to take a real stand, they should start stripping titles because if they were to do that, any club, not just Man City, who are found guilty of breaking FFP rules, would have done so for absolutely nothing.

‘And there is nothing more embarrassing in sport than having your awards deemed null and void.’