The ill-tempered World Cup clash between the Netherlands and Argentina sparked plenty of headlines after a number of different high-profile players clash with each other given what was on the line.
Dutch centre-back Virgil van Dijk was no different, with his most notable outburst coming when he barged Leandro Paredes to the floor after the Juventus loanee booted the ball into the Netherlands bench after hacking down Nathan Ake. However, the defender also renewed an old rivalry with a former Premier League foe.
Van Dijk is a Liverpool legend nowadays, having helped guide the Reds to both a Premier League and Champions League title. In that time, their main rival to the league crown has been Manchester City, with both teams contesting some fierce battles in recent years.
Therefore, things were hardly friendly when Van Dijk came face-to-face with a former Etihad star in Nicolas Otamendi, who was representing Argentina. And it has now emerged that Van Dijk and Otamendi were involved in one of several flare-ups in the tunnel after the game.
Much of that drama went down away from the TV cameras, but Esteban Edul - the man tasked with conducting the now infamous post-match Lionel Messi interview where he took aim at Wout Weghorst, saw how things unfolded between the old Liverpool and City rivals.
"After the game, they were all bickering in the locker room, not just Messi. [Virgil] Van Dijk was falling out with [Nicolas] Otamendi," the journalist explained.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Were the Argentina players wrong to celebrate in the face of the Dutch? Comment below
The ex-City defender was one of the main antagonists towards the Dutch players after the Albiceleste won the contest via a dramatic penalty shoot-out. After Lautaro Martinez netted the winning spot-kick, many of the Argentina players turned to taunt and goad their crestfallen Netherlands counterparts, Van Dijk included.
Otamendi has since offered up some reasoning behind that kind of conduct, claiming: "I celebrated in the face because there was a one Netherlands player, who at every penalty kick we had, was coming and saying things to one of our players, the picture was taken out of context, and we celebrated in response to it."
Van Dijk was clearly still seething after the full-time whistle and after being pressed for comment over whether he thinks Argentina will go on to win the World Cup, he fired back: "I don’t care. I won’t watch any more."
The Liverpool defender may have still been enraged by scenes that were not picked up by many supporters or cameras after the game, when the Dutch and Argentine players clashed once again after Lionel Scaloni's side had finished celebrating on the pitch.
Argentina were widely criticised for their conduct throughout the clash, with referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz brandishing a record 17 yellow cards over the course of the 120 minutes.
Lahoz has now been sent home from the tournament after accusations he had lost control of the game.
