FC Porto have expressed their shock regarding Manchester City's complaint to UEFA that striker Mario Barotelli was racially abused during the Europa League match on Thursday.
City claimed that there was "monkey chanting" aimed at Balotelli during their 2-1 win, but the current Europa League champions have said that they didn't notice anything abnormal during the match.
"What we can basically say is that nothing abnormal happened, no-one noticed anything strange, not even the UEFA delegates that worked closely with Porto during the match," said a spokesman for the club.
"Kun, Kun, Kun (referring to Sergio Aguero); Hulk, Hulk, Hulk. [Those chants] can be easily confused with racist chants.
"We are very proud of having a multi-racial team, with players from all backgrounds and to have achieved many titles with respect. Porto players have never felt the slightest hint of racism and we were very surprised with the accusations."
City will look to defend their one-goal lead when they host Porto in the return leg on February 22.
Barney Corkhill
