Felipe foul on Foden leads to clash between Atletico Madrid and Manchester City players
Both squads involved in the mass confrontation. Reports police called to incident between Savic and Grealish in the tunnel at the end of the Champions League quarterfinal second leg.
Emotions spilled over near the end of the Atlético Madrid - Manchester City quarterfinal second leg, with the majority of the players and benches involved in a mass confrontation after Felipe had fouled Foden on the touchline deep in the Atleti half.
Atlético Madrid, needing a goal to level the tie on aggregate, had been putting the City defence under pressure, when Felipe left his leg in on the City player out on the home side’s right touchline.
Foden appeared to roll back onto the pitch having been fouled, leading to Atleti’s Savic attempting to pull him back over the touchline so the game could restart quickly. That led to members of the City bench attempting to pull Savic off, and in seconds the majority of the players and squads were pushing and shoving each other, with Savic at the centre of the incident.
Coaches Guardiola and Simeone ended up in the middle of the conflict, pleading for peace. Savic meanwhile was spotted pulling Grealish’s hair, though his hairband stayed in place.
Felipe sent off
Once tempers had calmed, the referee sent Felipe off for the foul on Foden. He also booked Savic, whether for manhandling Foden, pulling Grealish’s hair, some other specific offence or all of them together was not clear. City’s Ake was also booked.
Atlético momentum derailed
Atleti had had their best moments just before the incident, and struggled to get back in the groove afterwards, now playing with 10 men, although they did create a couple of golden chances in the nine minutes of time added on due mainly to the scuffle. They failed to convert them however and City go on to the Champions League semifinal, where they will play Real Madrid.
Police called to the tunnel at the end of the game
Police officers were seen heading into the tunnel to the dressing rooms at the end of the game, with Savic was involved in an altercation with Grealish, while Šime Vrsaljko had to be held back as he challenged a number of the City players and staff to a fight. He was also seen throwing objects and spitting at his rivals.