Jack Grealish has earnt the new nickname ‘Peaky Jack’ in the Manchester City dressing room following his heated spat with former Blue Stefan Savic in Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid, according to The Mirror. The Birmingham-born winger’s fresh moniker is a nod to the hit BBC show ‘Peaky Blinders’, based on a hard-hitting Brummie gang in his hometown.
Man City dumped Atletico out of the quarter-finals after a 0-0 draw at the Wanda Metropolitano, progressing as 1-0 winners on aggregate thanks to their narrow triumph in last week’s first leg. In that match at the Etihad Stadium, Grealish and Savic planted the seeds for an explosive collision in Spain, The Mirror claim.
After Grealish replaced Raheem Sterling in the first leg, he was Savic’s direct opponent on the left side of the pitch. At one stage, the Montenegrin defender told the £100m summer signing, ‘I’ll have you in Madrid’, before the latter explained he was excited for their second meeting after full-time.
Kevin De Bruyne’s winner in Manchester turned out to be the decisive goal in the tie and Atletico’s players were riled up by the closing stages as an exit loomed on Wednesday. Felipe’s frustration showed after kicking out at Phil Foden, catalysing a mammoth bust-up between players and staff of both teams.
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Despite the floored England international suffering the red-card challenge, Savic acted unpleasantly and rushed over to him, only intensifying the melee. As he backed off, Grealish, defending Foden, appeared to call the 31-year-old a ‘c**t’ before the latter reacted by pulling his hair.
Savic escaped severe punishment after a VAR review, receiving a yellow card for his actions, but hostilities heightened in the tunnel as the teams returned to their respective dressing rooms. Savic waited for Grealish and went for the number 10, only to be restrained by several others in the tunnel whilst further threats of violence continued around them.
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It was a hectic finale that somewhat marred a memorable night for Man City and Atletico fans. And navigating past Diego Simeone and his players’ game management ploys in European knockout competition, especially at a bouncing Wanda, will give City tremendous confidence heading into the last four.
Pep Guardiola’s side will face Atleti’s fierce rivals Real Madrid in the semi-finals and are now just two games away from back-to-back final showdowns. And they could face English opposition for the second successive season, with Liverpool favourites to progress past surprise contenders Villarreal in the other affair.
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