Watch as Mario Balotelli and his manager have to be split up in fiery bust-up as striker ‘falls short of expectations’

MARIO BALOTELLI got into a heated exchange with his MANAGER after failing to make an impact during Adana Demirspor’s clash with Umraniye on Saturday.

The striker, 32, was named on the bench for the Turkish Super Lig match.

He was introduced just after half time to replace Artem Dzyuba, but his performance was far from impressive.

Demirspor manager Vincenzo Montella was fuming with Balotelli’s display, so much so that he furiously confronted him after the game.

The pair almost came to blows after exchanging words as staff members intervened to prevent the situation from escalating further.

Montella had to be pulled away from the striker, who continued to walk off the pitch visibly frustrated.

After the game, the Demirspor boss refused to go into any detail on the matter.

He told BeIN Sports: “I don’t need to say anything about Balotelli. He fell short of my expectations and there are tensions like that at the end of the game.

“We have higher expectations for him. That’s why I conveyed this to him.

“Of course the adrenaline sometimes makes you say other things. But for me it ended there, so this event.”

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This wasn’t the first time Balotelli had been involved in a bust-up on the pitch.

During his time with Manchester City he provoked a furious reaction from then-Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand after the Sky Blues defeated their bitter rivals in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final.

Ferdinand wasn’t impressed with the striker’s attempt to wind up the United supporters as City sailed through to the final.

His reaction sparked a huge brawl among players and coaching staff.

The United skipper reflected on the incident last year when speaking in his Vibe with Five YouTube channel.

He said: “That semi-final, that was the moment when I thought ‘OK they (City) are here to stay’.

“That was when Balotelli, remember what happened after the game? I wanted to kill him that day.

“I get on with him but at that moment in time…he was celebrating and giving gestures to our fans.

“And I was like that is disrespectful and I was going nuts.”

More recently, Balotelli even got into an altercation with one of his Demirspor team-mates.

After being substituted midway through a match in August 2021, the Italian PUNCHED his associate in frustration.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk