Two former team-mates forgot their mutual Liverpool experiences as they clashed on the touchline during a Madrid derby.
Fernando Torres and Alvaro Arbeloa played together 94 times during their career for Liverpool and Spain, but their previous relationship was set aside as the pair clashed on Sunday.
Torres, who is now a youth coach at Atletico Madrid, was sent off as his Atletico under-19 side were knocked out of the Champions Cup at the quarter-final stage by Arbeloa’s Real Madrid team.
Tensions began to bubble up at the break when some players had to be separated after the half-time whistle.
With Atletico winning 2-0 in 90 minutes to level the tie on aggregate, the game became properly heated in extra time.
Things got heated between Alvaro Arbeloa and Fernando Torres on the touchline.pic.twitter.com/bxuPv1lIBK
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) May 14, 2023
The former Liverpool striker was dismissed after protesting a Madrid goal, which was scored shortly after Atletico refused to put the ball out while Madrid had a player down injured.
Torres’ reaction got him sent off and he didn’t take the decision well.
As Madrid fans jeered and insulted him, he argued with Arbeloa in the opposition dugout and eventually pushed his former teammate, saying: “I blow your head off,” to which Arbeloa replied: “Start whenever you want!”
The resentment didn’t end there, though, with Torres calling a baying supporter a “clown” on his way down the tunnel.
In the end, Arbeloa’s Madrid went through 4-2 on aggregate.
Fernando Torres, expulsado, retando a la afición a darse de hostias a la salida, e insultando a la gente. Espero que de oiga pic.twitter.com/5wa2QKSYfy
— www.soymadridista.com (@soymadridista) May 14, 2023
Don’t tell these lads that it’s only a youth match!
Since retiring from playing, Torres has moved into coaching and has been the Atletico youth team’s coach since 2021.
Recently, the former Atletico youth coach, Armando de la Morena, tipped him to go far in management.
However, in the same interview with Diario AS, he said Torres has “the conditions to be a great coach, because of how he expresses himself, the serenity that he has, the calm.”
‘Serenity’ wouldn’t be the word for his temperament at the weekend.
