‘I would do worse’ - Liverpool defender responds after being goading by Pep Guardiola

Liverpool full-back Kostas Tsmikas has hit back at Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola following their strange interaction during the 4-1 loss at the Etihad Stadium last month.

The Citizens romped to a comfortable win on April 1 thanks to goals from Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish which cancelled out an early Mohamed Salah opener.

But the game saw a strange moment between Guardiola and Tsimikas following City’s opening goal.

Recent years have seen this game become one of the most anticipated fixtures in European football. The rivalry runs deep after competing with each other across the league, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Community Shield and the Champions League over the last five years.

Whilst celebrating his side’s equaliser from Alvarez, Guardiola couldn’t restrain his own celebrations as he moved up the touchline, cheering in the face of Tsimikas, who had zero reaction in the moment, before moving past the Spaniard.

The Greece international has since hit back at the manager and revealed what Guardiola said to him after the game: "He said to me ‘sorry, I didn’t do it to offend you [celebrate wildly], I did it because we scored a very good goal’."

"And I told him that I would do worse things if we scored in front of you, so there is no problem." Tsimikas told Gazzetta.

What made the situation even stranger was the fact that Juventus loan-ee Arthur Melo, who has only played 13 minutes in total this season, also received the same treatment, but the Brazilian reacted by shaking Guardiola’s hand.