Stefan Savic's antics in Atletico Madrid's highly-charged clash with Manchester City came as no surprise to Kieran Trippier, who knew the centre-half would be in the thick of it.
The Montenegro international was a central figure as tempers flared in the Spanish capital. Pep Guardiola's side edged out Atletico but the game ended with unsavoury scenes, initially on the pitch before it spilled over into the tunnel. Savic was lucky to escape a red card as he appeared to headbutt an opponent.
Simeone's side are known for their confrontational style and Savic was among those leading the charge. Trippier recently left Spain to return to England and was part of the culture at Atletico. He dismissed any talk of "dark arts" but confessed the manager instructed them to rattle the opposition, with Savic a key figure.
Trippier told BT Sport: "Against the top teams you need to be more defensive minded. It's not fair talking about the dark arts and him. When we used to play Liverpool and Chelsea he would tell us to get in their faces and wind them up. They want to wind players up.
"From minute one he will be asking for yellow cards from the touchline and the players will be winding up others. He wants players to get around the ref. Savic will be the big one tonight, he will be in Man City's faces." The defender was involved in a verbal exchange with Jack Grealish, which resulted in a tunnel clash which saw police intervene.
John Stones, who came up with a vital block late on, hailed his teammates for staying composed during the latter stages as tempers began to flare. Felipe was dismissed late on but the centre-half knew they were going to have to cope with a hostile atmosphere.
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He said after the match: "We know sometimes they try and make things like that happen, we dealt with it really well. It's not nice to talk about it. Over two legs we played incredibly against an experienced team in what they do. I'm so proud of the lads how we kept our control, our tempers. It's easy to get drawn into things.
"We're happy to be through and it's a great night. We knew it's not an easy place to come, a hostile environment. The boys who've been here before and played against some of their players, it was a difficult night all round. How we defended and controlled ourselves was incredible."
Pep Guardiola also refused to comment on the actions of the Spanish champions. City will now prepare for a semi-final against LaLiga leaders Real Madrid, who saw off Chelsea in the last eight.
