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If Manchester City were to find support from any club during this period, Paris Saint-Germain and their head coach Luis Enrique were always the most likely candidates.
In 2011, PSG underwent a comparable ownership change. Substitute Qatar for Abu Dhabi. Both clubs received UEFA fines back in 2014 for violations of financial regulations—the very reason City supporters have spent over a decade booing and jeering whenever the Champions League anthem plays.
In Enrique, PSG also have a manager who has maintained a close friendship with Pep Guardiola for many years. Despite lining up on opposing sides of the Clásico rivalry in the early 1990s, the two were teammates on Spain's Olympic squad on home turf in 1992.
They both broke into the senior national team around the same period and later became club teammates in 1996 when Enrique made the controversial move from Real Madrid to Barcelona as an early beneficiary of the newly introduced Bosman ruling. Enrique managed Barcelona B while Guardiola was at the helm of the first team, before taking over the top job himself from 2014 onward.
Enrique was inevitably asked for his thoughts on the Premier League's guilty verdict hanging over Manchester City ahead of the two sides' Champions League clash on Wednesday—Guardiola is expected to be in attendance for the first time since his departure as manager in May.
The PSG head coach expressed "hope" that "everything works out well" for this week's opponents.
'Speaking Only About Soccer'
Enrique appears willing to overlook nearly a decade of alleged financial misconduct that helped construct the foundation from which the club went on to dominate English football and even claim European glory, largely due to the style in which his friend assembled and deployed a squad of high-priced talent.
At the very least, he has no desire to see titles stripped away.
"We just have to wait and see what the final decision will be," he said. "I hope everything works out well for Manchester City because I think what they have done on the pitch has been incredible over the last few years and they certainly deserved to win on the pitch all the trophies they have won. Now we have to wait to see what the authorities decide."
City have filed an appeal against the guilty verdict handed down by an independent panel following a lengthy Premier League investigation covering the period from 2009 to 2018.
"The first thing that you hear, it is a surprise, but we need to respect the process and wait for the final decision," Enrique acknowledged. "The authorities are responsible for making these decisions.
"But, speaking only about football, they deserved those trophies. I love their football. Beyond that, we have to wait for the decision. The trophies you win on the pitch remain on the pitch. They deserved to win that and I hope they can avoid the sanction. But we have to wait."
Man City Stuck in Position of Uncertainty
The football schedule does not pause simply because Manchester City have been found guilty of manipulating the system to artificially boost their spending power, particularly while formal sanctions remain on hold pending the conclusion of the appeals process. Further appeals to higher governing bodies could follow if, by late January when the initial appeal ruling is expected, City are still deemed guilty.
City could face sweeping penalties for years of alleged systematic cheating, ranging from substantial fines to both retrospective and prospective points deductions.
In the meantime, they must continue competing, with no clarity on what the outcome will be, when it will arrive, or how any punishment might be enforced if it reaches that stage.
City put in a dominant performance against Liverpool in the Premier League last weekend, a moment defined by defiant celebrations from supporters who appeared to relish their role as the competition's pantomime villains.
"We are very good at focusing on our work and being happy whenever we come to work. Our minds are only on that. These are the things we can control and that we have always enjoyed doing so much," Rúben Dias said this week. "We have complete confidence in the club."