There's bust-ups, then there's bust-ups with Craig Bellamy.
John Arne Riise has given his side of the insane encounter with Bellamy while on a retreat in Portugal which included that infamous moment with a golf club, via an extract from his new auto-biography.
During the 2006/07 season, Liverpool faced Barcelona for a spot in the Champions League last eight.
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Ahead of the tie, Rafael Benitez flew his players to the Algarve. The plan was five days of light and warm-weather training prior to tackling the Spanish giants.
But it turned nasty pretty quickly.
The Liverpool squad went for a team dinner without management. Then-club captain Steven Gerrard booked a room which included karaoke.
Alcohol was flowing with a 'quite drunk' Bellamy hollering down the microphone: "Riise's gonna sing! Riise's gonna sing!"
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"I'm not singing," the Norwegian left-back replied.
"Shut the f**k up or else I'm gonna smash you!" Bellamy said as recalled by Riise: "I'm gonna f**king kill you, you ginger c**t!"
Riise, who was rooming with Daniel Agger, exited the shindig early and left his room unlocked for the Dane.
A person enters his room and to Riise's surprise, it's not Agger but Bellamy who's clutching a golf club, accompanied with Steven Finnan who watched on from the entrance.
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Riise details what Bellamy did and it's crazy: "Bellamy raised the club over his head and swung as hard as he could. He tried to hit my shins, which would have ended my career, but I managed to pull my leg away in time."
The Welshman shouted: "Nobody disrespects me like that in front of the lads!"
"I don't care if I go to jail! My kids have enough money for school and everything. I don't care. I'll f**king do you," he angrily added.
Bellamy did, though, strike Riise in the thigh: "Put down the club and let's fight with our fists. Come on! A proper fight," Riise said. "Tomorrow at nine o'clock we'll meet and finish this."
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The morning after, Riise showed up to Bellamy's room, knocked on his door yet no answer.
He then went to breakfast with Agger. Bellamy eventually arrived, not saying a word and avoiding eye contact with Riise.
Naturally, Liverpool slapped Bellamy with a £80,000 fine.
Absolute scenes.
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Then, the actual game between Barcelona vs. Liverpool.
The visitors went behind after Deco's header. Bellamy then scored and celebrated in outrageous fashion. Riise bagged his sides second goal to secure a victory in Spain.
Liverpool lost the second-leg 1-0 but went through on away goals, eventually reaching the final where they lost to AC Milan.
Riise also revealed what Gerrard said to him "If I'd been in your shoes, I don't think I would have managed."
H/T Guardian
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Craig Bellamy, John Arne Riise