Patrice Evra has revealed the reason for his on-pitch confrontation with Manchester City staff following Wednesday’s Citizens’ Champions League semi-final win over Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola’s City defeated the record winners in a thrilling 4-0 win at Etihad to advance to the final where they will meet Inter on June 3. Unsurprisingly, this triggered exuberant jubilation on the home bench.
After the final whistle, however, a dispute broke out between Manchester United legend Evra and a member of City’s backroom team, with the confrontation eventually being defused by Guardiola’s assistant Manel Estiarte.
Evra claimed the staffer directed his cheers specifically at him after commenting in 2022 when City blew a lead and were eliminated in overtime against the same opponent at the same stage of the competition.
The former Frenchman retired after a clash with his former rivals crashed CBS Sports Golaazo’s post-game comments about the game in an eventful feature in which he cursed twice, called Micah Richards a “Christmas tree” and exclaimed, “I love this game!” before we begin.
Patrice Evra appeared on CBS Sports Golazo to explain his confrontation with Manchester City staff after the final whistle
Evra (red suit) was seen protesting to city officials after their 4-0 win over Real Madrid
City had just beaten Real Madrid 4-0 at the Etihad to reach the Champions League final
“He looked at me and said, ‘This is for you,’ so I approached him and asked him, ‘Why are you yelling, why are you so excited?’
“So he said last year I said on TV that they were ‘fucking themselves’ which is why they lost to Real Madrid, but this year they didn’t break anything.”
“That’s the truth, Micah [Richards]! You know I’m an honest man, I’m straight and after he apologized.’
The 42-year-old, dressed in an all-red suit, was at the Etihad on Wednesday night working as a TV pundit.
The footage shows Estiarte holding the arms of the former France international and gesturing for him to calm down for a while.
Guardiola’s assistant seemed to have managed to break the tension in what was understandably emotional for City, with the two then shaking hands before going their separate ways.
Arriving on the CBS set, Evra was quick to dismiss talk of whether Man City’s treble title was now largely a formality with their impressive win over Los Blancos.
“By the way, there’s one game left so don’t celebrate yet.” “You haven’t won yet so calm down, calm down as the Italians say,” he claimed, while City are now on the verge of beating Man United’s record as the only English Achieve a team that has won a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League title in the same campaign.
Pep Guardiola’s side can complete the treble this season, becoming the first English side to do so since arch-rivals Manchester United in 1999
Rio Ferdinand joked: “Why the red face?” after hiding Jamie Carragher (right) on Wednesday
The Citizens are just three points away from securing their third consecutive Premier League title before taking on United in the FA Cup final and taking on Inter in June.
And Evra wasn’t quite done, joking with Jamie Carragher about his feud with BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand – and a former team-mate of the 42-year-old.
“When you saw Ferdy, did you say ‘Hello, my favorite clown’?” Evra asked the former Liverpool star.
The pair appeared to be laughing at their apparent feud on the night and eventually shook hands after a light-hearted rivalry erupted between the pundits at Sky Sports and BT Sport.
