Man City news: 31-year-old should be banned as controversial Raheem Sterling picture emerges – pundit
Paul Robinson has heaped praise on the “exemplary“ Man City players for their handling of Atletico Madrid.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Spurs and England number one claimed Atleti’s “ringleader“ Stefan Savic, 31, was “on a mission to wind others up“ and should have been sent off.
As pictured by BT Sport (14 April), Savic was at the centre of a brawl between the two sides on Wednesday night.
The Montenegro international appeared to headbutt Raheem Sterling and pull on Jack Grealish’s hair at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
However, he was not sent off by referee Daniel Siebert as City booked their place in the semi-finals.
When asked by Football Insider‘s Dylan Childs if Savic should have been shown a straight red, Robinson said: “Yes, he should have seen red.
“Grealish didn’t come on but Savic still targeted him.
“He had a sneaky pull of his hair. Savic was the ringleader. He was at the centre of all of the trouble on the night. He was quite clearly on a mission to wind others up and be a master of the dark arts.
“You have to give the Man City players a lot of credit for the way they handled themselves on the field. It was a situation that had to be managed. The City players were exemplary.
“You can only press a players button so many times before their fuse will snap. City were wound up and goaded by an Atletico side that are very good at that.”
A straight red card would have seen Savic handed a suspension when Atletico Madrid next play in a European competition.
City will face Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
In other news, a pundit has pointed the finger at Jack Grealish after Uefa reveal.