If it wasn’t for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp’s quick thinking, Darwin Nunez could have landed himself in hot water on Saturday after squaring up to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola. Confrontations between players and managers are uncommon but they do happen, as Nunez proved when he furiously approached Guardiola after the final whistle at the Etihad Stadium, with Klopp needing to separate the pair. This kind of feisty behaviour is part of Nunez – and it’s also partly why he is a fans’ favourite at Anfield.
The £85million striker endured a frustrating afternoon in front of goal after squandering several opportunities in the 1-1 draw, with Trent Alexander-Arnold salvaging a draw after Erling Haaland’s first-half strike. And Nunez saw the red mist descend as he walked towards Guardiola, who played down the incident after the game.
“Nothing happened. He is stronger than me! There is no problem,” Guardiola said, keeping his cards close to his chest. Klopp divulged more on what had irked Nunez, insisting the striker wasn’t aware of their clubs’ rivalries. Nunez’s gesture – pointing towards Trent Alexander-Arnold – appeared to suggest he was taunting the Catalan boss over the equaliser.
Few would deny that it is a classic example of how the striker is fuelled by passion and wears his heart on his sleeve. At times, his emotions can spiral out of control, though, and Express Sport looks at four other incidents where he has come to blows…
Joachim Andersen
To date, Darwin Nunez only has one red card to his name in the Premier League and Crystal Palace defender Andersen will know he succeeded in doing his job in winding up the striker.
Throughout the game, the pair engaged in a petty jabs – literally – with Andersen the instigator. Nunez should have known better than to get involved but the 23-year-old became increasingly heated with every coming together.
Tempers finally boiled over when Nunez threw an elbow at the Dane at a set piece, before later putting his head into the face of the Palace defender, leaving the referee no choice but to brandish a red card. Nunez earned himself a three-game ban for violent conduct, although he has managed to stay out of trouble for Liverpool since.
Antony
Things nearly came to a head – quite literally – when Nunez and Antony faced each other not in the Premier League, but in the Champions League while playing for Benfica and Ajax respectively.
Jostling for the ball in the corner, Nunez squared up to the Brazilian after the now-Manchester United winger kicked out at him near the corner flag. In fairness, Antony gave as good as he got – with the pair butting heads as their team-mates sought to separate them.
Footage from the game appeared to actually show Antony was the aggressor as he aimed a headbutt at Nunez, but the winger’s act went unpunished. Instead, both players earned a yellow card for losing their cool and that was the end of the matter.
Eljif Elmas
A bit of tussling while waiting for a corner was all it took for Nunez to see red in their Champions League clash with Napoli last season. As he was closely marked by Eljif Elmas,
At one point, he had the North Macedonia international in a headlock and appeared to throw a jab into the chest of the Napoli midfielder. Whether it landed or not is inconclusive, but Elmas certainly felt he had been hit as he fell to the floor clutching his face.
VAR concluded Nunez only deserved a yellow card on that occasion, and that might have been a lucky escape considering what the footage showed.
