Pep Guardiola has left Real Madrid fans fuming by his celebrations after his Man City side steamrollered over the Spanish giants to reach the Champions League final.
In what was billed as a defining night in the reign of the Spaniard, City were simply superb as they prevailed 4-0 against Carlo Ancelotti's team. A dominant first half display was capped by two goals from midfielder Bernardo Silva, while late strikes from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez completed a night to go down in folklore at the Etihad.
And their eccentric manager cut his usual frenzied figure on the touchline, celebrating each goal wildly whilst also visibly frustrated at 2-0 up as his side briefly became sloppy in possession. But it was a post-match photo, and not his touchline antics, that appeared to goad the Spanish club.
Guardiola's relationship with Real supporters is inevitably prickly, given his past association with arch-rivals Barcelona. And long after the final whistle had sounded on Wednesday, Manuel Estiarte, part of City's technical staff, posted a picture on Instagram of the manager and colleagues all holding up four fingers with the caption 'Four?'.
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, former Argentina president Mauricio Macri and Guardiola's brother Pere all joined in with the gesture, seemingly taken in a VIP room in the stadium. And it triggered memories of a hand signal made by another ex-Barca icon, Gerard Pique, back in November 2010.
After the centre back had helped his side hammer Real 5-0 in El Classico, he held up five fingers in reference to the final result - a moment that has since become etched in the memories of both sets of supporters. And although Estiarte's post has since been deleted, it was up long enough to rile those behind the 'Galacticos'.
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"If they put a 1 before the 4, they will be able to understand the greatness of Madrid," tweeted @kymobarillas, referring to the amount of times his club has won Europe's top prize. "14 Champions - the hangover from 4-0 passes tomorrow but achieving 14 titles will not be seen by your eyes."
@LoloSr4 added: "Great game, but behind that, leaving a lot to be desired as always. Pep's style is like that," while @BorjaMade echoed the thoughts of many Real fans by exclaiming: "Vamos Inter!"
Prior to the photo being posted, Guardiola had lauded his team for their display, seemingly backtracking on his initial claim that his side were not targeting revenge : "This is the best, playing a great game against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals," he said. "I wanted this draw, because last year was so hard that we had all the energy there. Because it was said that these players were worthless , who had no character. I have the feeling that we have played with pain in our stomachs because of what happened to us."
