Manchester City’s remarkable display against Real Madrid on May 17 was slightly overshadowed by a momentary clash between Kevin De Bruyne and Pep Guardiola.
Following a loss of possession, De Bruyne seemed to express his frustration towards his manager, but the incident was swiftly resolved as Guardiola embraced him warmly when he was substituted.
In a subsequent explanation, Guardiola emphasized that the entire team, including De Bruyne, was under immense pressure to maintain control of the game after halftime.
He dismissed the altercation as a natural occurrence within the context of a competitive match, as reported by Goal.
Player-manager confrontations are not new in football. Some, like De Bruyne and Guardiola, have been lucky to patch things up, but others still have the same animosity to date.
Pep Guardiola: “Pass the ball!, Pass the ball!
— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) May 18, 2023
Kevin De Bruyne “Shut up! Shut Up!” pic.twitter.com/LxicqfkUYp
Sports Brief takes a look at the most heated player-manager confrontations.
1. Alex Ferguson and David Beckham (Manchester United)
The legendary Manchester United manager built his reputation on a zero-tolerance policy to indiscipline no matter how big of a star you are.
He had a couple of clashes with his players, but perhaps the one with Beckham in 2003 stands out from the bunch. The two reportedly almost came to blows in the dressing room, with the midfielder sustaining a cut above his eyebrow, as reported by MEN.
He was thereafter sold to Real Madrid, but the two have since reconciled, with Beckham even insinuating he was possibly at fault.
2. Kepa Arrizabalaga and Maurizio Sarri (Chelsea)
This was partly down to a communication breakdown when Arrizabalaga famously decided to ignore Sarri’s instructions to come off during the Carabao Cup final in 2019.
Sarri wanted to introduce Willy Caballero in the dying minutes of extra time against Manchester City with an eye on the subsequent penalty shootouts. Arrizabalaga stood his ground and failed to win the game for Chelsea.
The World’s most expensive goalkeeper apologised to his coach afterwards, as reported by Sky Sports.
3. Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy (Ireland)
If you know Keane, you know how combative he was during his playing days. Not that he has changed much with his punditry.
He infamously called out Ireland national team boss Mick McCarthy, blasting out his training sessions ahead of the 2002 World Cup. The former Manchester United skipper was sent home.
4. Nicolas Anelka and Ray Domenech (France)
Another international incident and another player to be sent home from an international tournament. France’s World Cup campaign in South Africa in 2010 was shambolic at best and Anelka’s role will be remembered for years to come.
The experienced striker publicly called out Head Coach Domenech by calling him unprintable names after their defeat to Mexico. The former Chelsea and Real Madrid striker had been asked to play in a position he was not comfortable in, as captured by the Mirror.
He refused to apologise and was sent home as Les Bleus crashed out in the group stage. Anelka has never apologised to date.
5. Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
A list of clashes won’t be complete without Mourinho being mentioned anywhere, will it? The Special One has never been afraid of speaking his mind but in 2018, he was the one doing the listening.
Pogba was infuriated that Manchester United had sat back against Watford instead of attacking against Watford at Old Trafford.
Mourinho did not take the words of the Frenchman lightly and stripped him of the vice-captaincy of the club. As Sky Sports reported, the Portuguese manager, however, maintained that he had no issue with the midfielder.
What next for De Bruyne and Guardiola?
City faithful will be happy there are no lingering issues between Guardiola and De Bruyne as they enter into the final five fixtures of their season. They play Chelsea this weekend with a win enough to guarantee them a fifth title in six years.
They would then wrap up their Premier League campaign against Brighton and Brentford before facing Manchester United in the FA Cup final on June 3. The team will then attempt to win their first Champions League title when they play Inter Milan on June 10.
3 controversial calls in Champions League
De Bruyne’s blueprint was all over the semifinal as he scored a thunderbolt to equalise proceedings in the first leg on May 9.
There was nothing wrong with the Belgian’s shot, only that a few seconds earlier, Bernardo Silva had retrieved the ball after it had crossed the line for a throw-in, but the officials failed to spot it. VAR failed to review the incident and Ancelotti was so furious that he got himself booked.
As Sports Brief reported, there have been more scandalous decisions in the Champions League in the past; goals and decisions that stood that weren’t supposed to.