Is there anything more entertaining than seeing rival teammates clash on a football field? Obviously, the answer is no.
While pundits are required to state “we don’t want to see that in football,” we truly do. Occasionally, tempers erupt.
Here are some entertaining examples of memorable football fights.
Sane and Mane
The two attackers were rivals while Liverpool and Manchester City battled it out for the Premier League championship, but you’d have thought that would be history when they joined forces at Bayern Munich. Reconsider your position.
According to Sky Germany, Mane slapped Sane in the locker room following Bayern’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City because of something the latter did during the game. Mane is anticipated to apologize to the rest of the Bayern team as a result of the Germany international being seen in the aftermath sporting a bust lip.
This July, Mane was transported to Saudi Arabia.
Onyewu and Ibrahimovic
Ibrahimovic is known for getting physical with his teammates. At Ajax, he threatened to break Rafael van der Vaart’s legs, and at Juventus, he punched Jonathan Zebina in the face.
But his most spectacular meltdown occurred at AC Milan, where he tangled with Oguchi Onyewu, a former Newcastle United loanee.
Ibrahimovic claimed in his autobiography, “I headbutted him, and we flew at each other.
“We wanted to rip each other apart from head to toe. It was harsh. As we rolled around, we punched and kneed one another. It was like it was life or death, so we were insane and furious.
Le Saux and Batty
After winning the Premier League, Blackburn had a miserable Champions League run and, on matchday five, they were still without a win in the group stage as they went to Spartak Moscow.
They lost 3-0 in Russia and fell apart, with David Batty and Graeme Le Saux fighting.
I informed my players before the game that they would be competing against 11 other men who were prepared to battle for each other for 90 minutes, not with each other. Spartak trainer
Water and Jota
A training session involving players not on the first-team roster wouldn’t be anticipated to be very competitive…but never make assumptions.
The players who were not chosen for that game exercised at Bodymoor Heath the day after Aston Villa lost to Leicester City 4-0. During one of their furious exchanges, Danny Drinkwater and Jota are accused of headbutting one another.
Never rains…
Los & Son
In July 2020, Tottenham defeated Everton 1-0, but the most interesting part of the game occurred at halftime.
Hugo Lloris challenged Son Heung-min at halftime because the goalie was upset with his teammate despite being in the lead for not tracking back.
Teammates Giovani Lo Celso and Harry Winks had to separate the couple, but they eventually hugged at full time.
The incident, according to manager Jose Mourinho, was “beautiful” rather than being criticized by his players.
Dabo & Barton
Legally speaking, this was more of an assault than a brawl, and Barton received a suspended four-month prison term while already serving a six-month sentence for a prior attack.
Dabo was brutally attacked by Barton during Manchester City training, leaving him on the ground bloodied and unconscious.
Foster & Doyle
Jermaine Beckford objected to striking partner Eoin Doyle’s refusal to send the ball to him as Preston attempted to score a late equalizer against Sheffield Wednesday with 10 men on the field.
They were both dismissed. Preston dropped 2-1. The fines imposed on the players were used to reimburse fans who traveled to Hillsborough
Bendtner & Adebayor
Another player with experience in similar situation is Emmanuel Adebayor, who engaged in a brawl with Kolo Toure in 2011 while practicing for Manchester City’s match against their previous team Arsenal.
