Liverpool and Manchester City fans were embroiled in violent clashes outside Wembley Stadium ahead of their FA Cup semi-final on Saturday afternoon.
Brawling supporters were filmed throwing punches on Wembley Way, forcing police to intervene and attempt to break them up in shocking footage which was shared on social media. The ugly scenes came as tensions run high between the two clubs, who are locking horns in a fiercely-competitive Premier League title race.
City and the Reds have shared the last four top-flight titles and they are widely regarded as the two best teams in the world. They were in league action six days before their semi-final and drew 2-2 after a riveting encounter at the Etihad which saw the Sky Blues maintain their slender one-point lead the top of the table.
It is also possible the two rivals could meet yet again this season in May's Champions League final having both progressed to the last four of the competition. City overcame Atletico Madrid to set up a tie with Real Madrid while Liverpool defeated Benfica over two legs and will face Villarreal in the next round.
The animosity between the two English fanbases has only grown in recent years and the appalling behaviour witnessed outside Wembley harked back to the deep unpleasantness of last summer's Euro 2020 final. However, there is nothing but respect between City manager Pep Guardiola and his counterpart, Jurgen Klopp.
Speaking after last weekend's Premier League thriller, Guardiola hailed the German for making him a "better manager" and even admitted he tries to "imitate" his opposite number. "I don't know if Jurgen respect me but I respect him a lot," the Spaniard said. "He makes me a better manager... his teams are positive, aggressive and they want to attack. I try to imitate him.
"We aren't friends, we don't have dinner together, we will have dinner one day in the hall of fame, I have his telephone number but I don't call him. I have a lot of respect for him and he knows next Saturday, we'll try to beat him." In response, Klopp confessed he is not close with Guardiola but left the door open to "sit down" with his great adversary in the future.
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"Our relationship is good but he is right - how can we be friends? We never meet but we have each other's number," Klopp said of the former Barcelona boss. "We had a few of the same personal issues and we shared messages but we don't call each other. That is all true.
"But I know 100 per cent that if we meet in the future, we will definitely sit down. That would be a nice thing to think about. Why shouldn't we? We have no real issues. He smashed me more often than I wished and we could win against his team from time to time. That's all. There would be something to talk about and that would be nice."
