Drama off the pitch as well as on it.
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The Porto and Man City players clashed on the brink of half-time (Image: Getty)
Manchester City players and staff clashed with their Porto counterparts as the two teams walked off the pitch at half-time. There was a very Mancunian feel to the match in Northern Portugal, as the rain was relentless during the Tuesday night Champions League clash.
The Premier League side dominated in the first half, with Erling Haaland missing three golden chances across the goalless first half. But it was a moment involving Gabri Veiga and Marc Guehi that initially sparked a row on the pitch, with the Porto players adamant the City defender ought to have been punished.
There was a significant stoppage while Veiga was attended to, but the tensions continued to boil over as they went into the tunnel for half-time refreshments. New City signing Enzo Fernandez was seen deep in conversation with members of the Porto backroom staff, while several players were remonstrating with the referee.
It continued in the tunnel, with reports the in-stadium security team needed to intervene in order to split the altercation up. Reporting from the Estadio do Dragao in Porto, Amazon Prime reporter Gabriel Clarke offered some more information on the saga.
He remarked: "That anger triggered by the Veiga-Guehi incident, the pushing and the shoving, the bad-tempered behaviour, continued down the tunnel as the players came off for half-time. Security for both teams were involved separating the backroom staff and players from both sides as they entered the mouth of the tunnel."
Adding: "Gabi Veiga himself had to be pulled away, to an extent, by one of the Porto staff. He was, obviously, among the most animated. A lot of shoving, a lot of venting. We'll see if it's in the referee's report, and we'll see if it continues in terms of that sort of behaviour by both sides into the second half, hopefully not."
FC Porto v Manchester City - UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD1
Tempers flared in the Champions League meeting between Porto and Man City (Image: Getty)
The game finally came to life on the pitch after the restart, with Haaland making amends for his earlier misses with a typically clinical finish. Bright work on the left-hand side from the visitors saw the ball fall to newbie Fernandez, who perfectly chipped a ball onto the head of Haaland.