During Manchester City's victory over Real Madrid on Wednesday night, Kevin de Bruyne lost his cool and yelled at Pep Guardiola. The midfielder was seen waving angrily in his direction after being robbed of the ball.
In the second leg of their Champions League semifinal matchup, City thrashed Madrid, scoring four goals past the defending champions at the Etihad Stadium to secure their place in next month's championship game.
The hosts took complete control with to a brilliant first-half double from Bernardo Silva, and then Eder Militao's own goal and a late Julian Alvarez goal clinched the victory and the hosts' second consecutive appearance in the championship game.
But before they crossed the line, De Bruyne and Guardiola began to argue, as the two were seen doing so early in the second half.
When the Belgian advanced with the ball just inside Madrid's half and was robbed of it by Militao, Guardiola was incensed. The Belgian had missed an opportunity to pass to Jack Grealish on the left flank.
De Bruyne lost his composure and responded aggressively at his boss, throwing his arms up in rage before finishing the game. Instead of embracing the criticism that was directed at him, though, De Bruyne chose to ignore it.
Guardiola returned to the City bench after they exchanged what appeared to be very harsh, furious words, gazing at the ground.
As the second half continued, Militao's own goal with 14 minutes left allayed any concerns about another miraculous late Madrid comeback in the semifinals.
In the 84th minute of the game, with victory already secured, Guardiola decided to switch De Bruyne for Phil Foden. As he departed the pitch, the two put their tense argument behind them and shared a joyful hug.
In extra time, Alvarez added City's fourth of the game to cap one of their best performances ever.
While the English champions dominated Carlo Ancelotti's team and can now anticipate a championship match with Inter Milan in Istanbul, Guardiola was nonetheless displeased by some aspects of their performance and provided an explanation for his falling out with De Bruyne.
We hurried a lot while we were up 2-0, he admitted to Spanish network Movistar.
Immediately following the interval, "[Ilkay] Gundogan lost a ball, Kevin made three unnecessary transitions, and we rushed a lot when we needed to sink and turn them."
But it's typical. Despite the fact that overall we have had an exceptional game, it has cost us more when you rush when it is close.
Guardiola was pleased with his team's resolve to recover this time around, especially following their traumatic collapse in the second leg of the semi-final last season.
Guardiola added, "I had the impression these last few days that we had a mix of calm and the intention to play these type of games."
"Every bit of the pain from last year was present today." The way we lost was incredibly difficult. Saying "I want it" required us to ingest the poison.
The energy from one year was present. This group is extremely modest. I'm very happy. Every competition is taken very seriously by them. I detest any kind of arrogance that makes you think you are something you are not. They received their reward today. You always have the chance to try again in life.
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