Manchester City"s lawyers believe they can overturn their two year Champions League ban by seizing upon prior Court of Arbitration for Sport findings that alleged confidential leaks by Uefa were "worrisome". Dressing room sources say Pep Guardiola and their players have received strong assurances from the club that their legal teams are confident of success by the end of May. City are now expected to wage war on the investigative process behind the sanctions brought by Uefa in their fresh appeal to be launched at the Swiss court within days. The club have been collecting alleged "leaks of confidential information" by Uefa since the governing body launched the probe more than a year ago in the wake of German magazine Der Spiegel alleging almost £60 million was paid directly into the club by their billionaire Arab owners, but declared as sponsorship. In a hint of how the club might fight any subsequent ban, a hacked email from club lawyer Simon Cliff read: “Khaldoon (Al Mubarak, the City chairman) said he would rather spend £30million on the 50 best lawyers in the world to sue them for the next ten years.” City subsequently hired three legal teams last year to get the case thrown out. The pre-emptive bid failed, but the panel gave the club hope by stating their case is "not...entirely without merit". "The alleged leaking of information by members of the investigatory chamber or the Uefa administration about the proceedings against MCFC is worrisome," the previous Cas verdict added. While the two year ban imposed on Friday came as a shock, the Daily Telegraph understands the club were quick to tell players they would be successful on appeal. The "worrisome" line, meanwhile, in the previous Cas verdict is said to be a particular source of optimism for the club"s lawyers. City sources state that they are approaching the situation with a “clear, calm head”. Initially, when news of a Uefa investigation became public, City refused to acknowledge the evidence against them on the basis that it was allegedly obtained illegally by Rui Pinto, who is said to have amassed 70 million documents from personal email accounts from clubs across Europe. He is still awaiting trial from a Lisbon jail cell. However City statements have since become increasingly critical of Uefa, presumably because legal experts are doubtful that Cas would rule the evidence as inadmissible merely on the basis that it was hacked. There is little chance too of City arguing outright against FFP regulations, given they have raised no previous cases since the rules were introduced in 2010-11. City have until the end of this week to formally state their wish to appeal again to Cas and the club is certain to restate many of the arguments it sent last year which claimed Uefa"s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) had conducted “unlawful activities” prior to launching sanctions. Should they fail to get the result they want from Cas, they could pursue the case at the Swiss Supreme Court. Uefa, which is desperate for the matter to be concluded prior to next season"s Champions League first round draw, has stated it will be guided by Cas only. City are legally entitled to appeal again, however, and could cite the 14-month cocaine ban issued to Paolo Guerrero, which was temporarily lifted to allow the Peru captain to compete in the 2018 World Cup. In that case, Fifa accepted the Swiss Federal Tribunal"s case to lift the anti-doping case while it pursued that matter following a disputed Cas verdict. Uefa said last Friday that the two year punishment against City was based on "serious breaches of the Uefa Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to Uefa between 2012 and 2016". The punishment was issued by Uefa"s Adjudicatory Chamber of the CFCB, which the governing body insists has an "independent" mandate. A one-year ban was doubled, it has been suggested, over the club"s failure to cooperate in the investigation. The fresh appeal could be heard in a matter of weeks if Cas are able to clear a backlog of cases linked to the Olympics. A three-person panel will be set up, with City and Uefa allowed to select one panellist each from a wider panel of arbitrators. The parties will decide between them whether the hearing can be held in public. City will assemble a huge legal team, and are likely to retain Monckton Chambers, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London and Kellerhals Carrard in Lugano, Switzerland. Eight of their lawyers were present for the previous Cas verdict which ultimately ruled out their first appeal because “internal remedies” had not been exhausted. In November, the panel said they were "mindful not to trespass into the authority" of Uefa"s Adjudicatory Chamber, which passed down its two year ban last week. "However, it must be noted that MCFC’s complaints as to the leaks do not, on a prima facie basis, appear to be entirely without merit, particularly concerning the First and Second Leak, […], and the Fifth Leak, which refers to an "insider" at Uefa as the source," court papers state. The Telegraph was among four newspapers to first report that City were at risk of a Champions League ban in December 2018. However, City took particular issue with subsequent statements confirming a ban was possible from chief financial investigator, Yves Leterme. The club was enraged by the New York Times reporting in May last year that the investigatory committee was pushing for a one-year ban. Several days later Uefa announced the case would go to the CFCB’s separate adjudicatory chamber for a final decision. As a result, City told Cas that Uefa should be ordered to undertake a “full investigation into the sources of the leaks in order to identify and take disciplinary measures against the identified sources”. Uefa, the club said, should then pay “damages to be assessed for losses incurred as a result of the respondent’s conduct”. Unless the issue is resolved by May, the Premier League season will finish with the team in fifth unsure whether they will be playing in the Champions League next season.