The Liverpool fan at the centre of Diego Simeone’s explosive outburst and subsequent red card during Atletico Madrid’s late defeat at Anfield has sensationally claimed that he was spat at by a member of the Spanish club’s staff.
Jonny Poulter, who admitted to aggravating the Argentinian by swearing and gesturing towards the coach, released a telling video on social media platform X that claimed assistant head coach Hernan Bonvicini spat in his direction during the melee.
Mr Poulter denied making racist remarks towards Simeone, while branding the former midfielder a “coward” for his failure to address rumours after the game.
“I think he is a bit of a coward,” Mr Poulter said during his minute-long social media video.
“When he went in and did his press conference after the game, the Spanish media had asked him what was said, if it was racist or regarding the Falklands War or all of this rubbish.
“There was nothing racist said by me or anyone else. There was never a mention of the Falklands War by me or anyone else.
The Liverpool fan at the centre of Diego Simeone’s explosive outburst and subsequent red card during Atletico Madrid’s late defeat at Anfield has sensationally claimed that he was spat at by a member of the Spanish club’s staff
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“But the fact he was asked it and he didn’t answer the question, he just got up and walked out, has left it open to speculation for the world.
“I’ve had messages on every platform, I don’t know how many, people saying, ‘Oh, what did you say?’ I never said anything other than ‘f*** off, we’ve won’.”
Jonny Poulter appeared to hurl abuse at the Atletico Madrid manager, who reacted vigorously
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Mr Poulter then continued to focus on Simeone’s assistant manager, Bonvicini. The supporter claimed he celebrated in front of the Liverpool fans before spitting in his direction.
“That’s what he did to us when they scored the equaliser, his assistant manager giving us the ‘Whey’ in front of us," he added.
“Obviously, he was getting called a s***house or whatever else. His assistant manager, who came over and spat at me… Yeah.”
Diego Simeone was pulled away by his staff and Anfield stewards
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UEFA are due to open an investigation into the incident, including the allegations that the Atletico assistant spat at Mr Poulter.
GB News have contacted Atletico Madrid for comment.
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Mr Poulter had previously admitted to being at the centre of the controversy by replying to the video of the altercation, asking if he “gets the assist” for Simeone’s red card.
Earlier in the match, videos online appeared to show Mr Poulter swearing at the Madrid players during their celebrations following Marcos Llorente’s equaliser.
After the game, Simeone admitted he “regrets” his reaction, but revealed he had been "insulted throughout the game”.
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Diego Simeone said he had been 'insulted all game'
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"Firstly, I regret the part I played,” the former midfielder admitted. “It's clear we are in a position where we do not have the right to react and it is not good when we react.
"We [managers] are in a position where we are protagonists/standard bearers, so in the same manner that we fight against racism and insults in stadiums today, we could also fight on behalf of the managers, against the insults we receive throughout the whole game.
"It's not easy to be in the position we are in and receive insults for the whole game. I saw it from far away after the third goal. I saw the third goal go in and I turned, the insults continued, and well, I'm a person."
The Argentine admitted he 'regrets' his reaction
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The Madrid coach refused to explicitly outline what was said, claiming he “cannot remember exactly”.
"My reaction isn't justifiable, but do you know what it is like to be insulted for 90 minutes?” he asked.
“I hope Liverpool can improve that aspect and that when they identify the person who did that, there will be consequences."
When asked to expand on his comments regarding racism, the Atletico coach stormed out of the press room.
The incident occurred after Virgil van Dijk’s 92nd-minute header from a corner to win the game for Liverpool.
Following two early goals for the hosts, Atletico Madrid drew level with just 10 minutes to go, but were unable to hold onto a point with the Reds yet again managing a remarkably late comeback to secure their fifth consecutive win this season.
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