Friday saw Manchester City lift their fifth title of the year, beating Fluminense 4-0 to win the coveted FIFA Club World Cup crown to add to their Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Super Cup victories in 2023.
Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden got on the scoresheet, with the Argentine grabbing a brace, while Fluminense defender Nino scored an own goal in what was a convincing victory for the Premier League giants.
Unfortunately, the game ended on a sour note as players from the opposing teams, namely Kyle Walker and Fluminense veteran Felipe Melo. The pair got embroiled in a scuffle shortly following the final whistle after the Brazilian appeared to confront Jack Grealish.
While Melo appeared to be the aggressor, the Copa Libertadores winner accused the Man City players and Grealish in particular of instigating things. According to the Brazilian, Jack began mocking the South American champions once City marched into an insurmountable lead. He also accused the opposition of targeting his teammate Matheus Martinelli.
"I've already seen on social media idiots saying that I started a mess," Melo said after the game, as per Goal.
"Just as the idiots said that I started the mess with the goal that Gremio scored. Today Grealish was disrespectful towards the Fluminense institution and I will never let that happen. He was shouting ole at the end of the game. This is for the fans, the fans can shout ole. The athlete on the field cannot be disrespectful towards the Institution.
"So, for the idiots who call themselves journalists and have already said that I started trouble, I didn't start any confusion, on the contrary, I went to defend Martinelli, who was being cornered by this athlete. And I would do it again. I am a warrior."
However, Grealish was quick to respond to this acquisition, taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to rubbish claims he was chanting ole.
"Not once did I say ole," the Englishman wrote on social media.
Not once did I say ole https://t.co/wguT4ZFwc6
— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish) December 22, 2023
It should be noted that while this was an ugly full-time scene, many shared touching moments on the pitch once the match ended. Pep Guardiola and Fernando Diniz, two tacticians with progressive yet starkly polar ideas of the game, shared a warm hug while Marcelo received a lovely reception from the Man City players, mainly Mateo Kovacic, a former teammate at Real Madrid.