The mystery behind wht Darwin Nunez was infuriated with Man City manager Pep Guardiola after Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at the Etihad has now been explained.
.
In a hard-fought draw between two contemporary rivals, Nunez approached Guardiola at full time as the manager extended an invitation to shake hands.
The striker first shook it, then made a gesture toward the pitch and said something that caused the Spaniard to blush and yell back at him.
Jurgen Klopp led Nunez away along with Adrian and a smiling Curtis Jones and Alexis Mac Allister, while Pepijn Lijnders and Vitor Matos placated Guardiola.
Speaking to Argentine journalist Juan Pablo Varsky on Clank!, Mac Allister has now revealed what was said between the two.
“Yes,” he replied when asked if Nunez took it more seriously than Guardiola.
“I don’t know if I should tell it but I’m going to tell you…basically, they had a situation.
“I don’t know if it was a corner or a cross that Haaland headed and the ball went past the goal next to the post. Pep turned around and started saying how lucky we are or something like that.
“Then it goes to the last bit of play, the ball is crossed into the middle and Lucho Diaz wants to head it and they save it.
“So then Darwin tells [Guardiola], ‘ah, now you are the ones who are lucky’.
“From there, everything went to sҺι t. But it was very calm. Nothing serious.”
.
After the game, both Klopp and Guardiola offered little in terms of an explanation, with the Liverpool manager describing the situation as “emotional” and his opposite number insisting “nothing happened.”
“As Jurgen said, they are two very emotional people, both Pep and Darwin, and it was nothing,” Mac Allister continued.
“Some comment that Pep made, Darwin responded to it, but it wasn’t anything out of this world.
“And that’s why I was laughing too. If I see how serious it is, obviously I wouldn’t laugh in that way.
“But nothing made me laugh a little like how Darwin got angry so quickly.
“And apart from that, at the beginning, Pep thought he was doing everything like a joke, and of course Darwin was with him. It had transformed his face a little then.
“It was kind of a little funny, the whole situation, but those are things that stay there.
“I think they both respect each other a lot, and nothing was wrong at that moment.”
This goes to show that the emotions may have taken over in the moment, but nothing serious was said between the pair. Football players and managers are known to allow the heat of the moment to take control and it appears this was the case on this occasion.