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Diego Simeone was at his snarling, confrontational best as he guided Atletico Madrid into command of their Champions League quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund on Thursday (AEST).
Atletico manager Simeone, the former Argentina menace who baited David Beckham into that infamous 1998 World Cup red card, squared up to Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director Sebastian Kehl on the sideline and pushed him.
It was unclear what sparked the drama but the former defensive midfielders had to be separated in the second half of Atletico’s 2-1 first leg win in Madrid.
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“He doesn’t care how big they are does he?” Stewart Robson mused on Stan Sport’s coverage.
“He never has,” commentator Jonathan Pearce replied.
Another Argentine, Rodrigo De Paul, had earlier scored Atletico’s opening goal after a dreadful Dortmund defensive mix up.
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Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel needlessly put defender Ian Maatsen under pressure with a pass on the edge of his box and Maatsen then sent an even worse ball in the direction of a gleeful De Paul to score.
“Wow. Oh my goodness,” former Tottenham defender Michael Dawson said on Sky Sports.
“It’s an absolute mistake. It’s ridiculous. It’s unbelievable. I’m not sure what Dortmund were doing. It’s a disaster, it’s an absolute disaster.”
Ex-Socceroos captain Craig Foster was more measured on Stan Sport.
“On the edge of the box, it’s the most difficult pass,” Foster said.
“OK, he (Kobel) plays into him, he (Maatsen) can give it back to the keeper here, which is the safest, he could maybe go across to (Emre) Can.
“But what you can’t do is play a square pass.”
Samuel Lino then put Atletico into a 2-0 lead at halftime but Sebastien Haller gave Dortmund some hope by scoring in the second term.
The second leg is in Germany on Wednesday (AEST).
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