‘Mancini had taken the captain’s armband away from me without telling me why or even speaking to me about it, so a lot of things had happened and I was in a bad mood.

‘I had already warmed up in the first half but he told me to keep on warming up. He treated me like a dog. When he spoke to me in that tone of voice, I said, “No I’m not going out”. I was willing to play but the coach was in such a foul mood because he’s had an argument with Dzeko that he started on me as well, and began swearing. He said some horrible things to me.’

Tevez was fined four weeks’ wages - later reduced to two - following a club investigation into the incident, but he blames City’s support of Mancini and the reaction of fans for his decision to flee to Argentina.

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