Pep Guardiola will have been watching on closely after Massimiliano Allegri parted ways with Juventus. 

It's been the same story, to a lesser extent, with Ernesto Valverde at Barcelona. Winning the league is no longer enough for Europe's top clubs. 

For that reason, the sight of Jurgen Klopp holding aloft the Champions League will have hurt the Manchester City boss, even if it came just weeks after his own side completed back-to-back Premier League title wins. 

To make matters worse, the Catalan could be running out of time to lift the trophy.

There is a growing storm around a potential UEFA ban from the competition, coming into effect for the 2020/2021 season. 

It's no secret that European football's governing body are unhappy with City's supposed flouting of Financial Fair Play regulations. 

However, the club are doing all they can to avoid a suspension. 

The Daily Mail report that City have launched a last-minute legal bid with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). 

Although UEFA's Club Financial Control Board haven't even heard the case against them yet, City are keen to get their defence in early. 

At the very least, it should delay the process.

It already looks unlikely that they'll be banned for next season's competition because any such ruling would need to be announced before the qualifiers begin. 

It all dates back to leaked documents obtained by German newspaper Der Spiegel.

They were alleged to show that City had deceived UEFA by hiding revenue relating to their Abu Dhabi-based owners and skirting around regulations regarding transfer spending. 

Even if the Premier League champions are found guilty, they wouldn't have exhausted all avenues as they could then return to the CAS once again.

Should City be banned from Europe? Have your say in the comments.