As their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Atletico Madrid finished in pandemonium, an injured Phil Foden was forced off the pitch by ex-Manchester City defender Stefan Savic, sparking a melee.
The Champions League quarter-final second leg between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid descended into pandemonium after former Citizens defender Stefan Savic provoked a major brawl by dragging an injured Phil Foden off the pitch.
With the score still 1-0 to City on aggregate after their first-leg success last week, Foden was viciously dragged down by Felipe in the dying embers at the Wanda Metropolitano. Savic dashed over to the England international, who was writhing around in anguish, and manhandled him to get him off the field.
His antics provoked a brawl between players and coaches, with German referee Daniel Siebert issuing a yellow card to Savic and a marching order to fellow Atletico centre-back Felipe for a second booking. The Brazilian was fortunate not to receive a yellow card for a tackle on Foden early in the first half, but he still walked off angry. After pulling Grealish’s hair during the brawl, Savic battled with him in the tunnel after full-time.
Before Siebert’s whistle blew, another brawl broke out, with Riyad Mahrez being booked for time-wasting as Guardiola tried hard to keep his men under control as they clung to a slim advantage. Meanwhile, Diego Simeone attempted to inspire his players for a late comeback but was ejected for his boisterous behavior.
As a result,Rio Ferdinand slammed Atletico’s conduct, saying, “Some nasty behavior I think we observed there from some of the Atletico players. Some of their antics should disgrace them, especially Savic. To be fair, Atletico deserves credit for the manner they’ve played.”
“They forced Man City to play in a way that we haven’t seen in a long time. They were thrown off their stride and out of their rhythm. They didn’t make it through from a football standpoint, but they made it difficult, but some of the stuff near the conclusion of the game was not what you want to see.”
“Overall, Atletico did well in the second leg,” Joleon Lescott continued, “but I can’t condone it in the closing 10 minutes. To be honest, Simeone must take some blame for some of the behavior he seemed to encourage. It’s not something you’d expect from a top-tier coach or a top-tier manager.”
The Citizens, on the other hand, cruised through the semi-finals and will face Real Madrid in the Champions League final for the second time in their history. Despite the fact that the turmoil was finally brought to an end in the 13th minute of injury time, City’s night was far from flawless.