UEFA have launched an investigation into the shameful scenes that marred the end of Manchester City's Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid. Fighting broke out between both sides towards the end of the second leg in Madrid, which finished 0-0, with City progressing to the semi-finals 1-0 on aggregate.
Atletico defender Stefan Savic was at the centre of the trouble, head-butting Raheem Sterling on the pitch, then clashing in the tunnel with Jack Grealish, having pulled the City winger’s hair when the teams clashed on the pitch. Although Savic was awarded a yellow card for his part in the on-pitch melee, if referee Daniel Siebert did not spot his head-butt on Sterling, UEFA can take retrospective action against him.
UEFA are set to appoint an ethics and disciplinary officer to oversee the investigation, which could see both sides hit with charges over the behaviour of their players, despite Atletico’s cynical fouling ultimately sparking the ugly scenes.
The fall-out from Wednesday’s shameful end to the tie continued, with Atletico president Enrique Cerezo hitting back at Guardiola’s "prehistory" jibe, made after the first leg. After Atletico’s ultra-defensive display at the Etihad, Guardiola accused them of playing a 5-5-0 formation and said "In pre-history, today and in a hundred thousand years, it's difficult to attack a 5-5-0".
After City clung on for a 0-0 draw in Madrid, to go through, Cerezo threw Guardiola’s jibe back in his face. Cerezo said: "We played a good game, attack and Manchester City yesterday played prehistory, defended themselves and put a wall in front of their goal. Everyone has seen it. City was a completely defensive team. Yesterday it was shown that everyone has their own prehistory."
City are likely to be without star man Kevin De Bruyne, who suffered an ankle injury, and defender Kyle Walker, who was also forced off, for Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against title rivals Liverpool. City, who sit top of the table, have seven Premier League games left.
Should Atletico Madrid and Manchester City be punished for Wednesday evening's events? Let us know in the comments below!
"Today we celebrate because it is the third time in Manchester City's history we are in the Champions League semi-finals," said Guardiola at full-time. "But we can't forget we played three days ago, travelled, came here, have a lot of injuries now and I don't know what will happen in the next weeks. We cannot play all the time and score four or five goals, we are human beings - we come from a difficult game against Liverpool.
On the chaotic scenes, Guardiola added: "Everyone saw the action, but I have nothing to say. It is the champion of Spain and they played with energy and, in the second half, were better than us and we were lucky we didn't concede. In the first half we had chances, overall we are in the semi-finals - it is well deserved.
"The opponent is so tough, all the teams in the Champions League come here and suffer so it is important we go through."
