Diego Simeone Faces UEFA Punishment After Liverpool Fan Clash

UEFA are poised to punish Diego Simeone for his heated incident with a Liverpool fan on Wednesday night, it has been claimed.

Simeone was shown a red card at Anfield in his side's 3-2 loss after he angrily confronted a fan following Virgil van Dijk's winner.

The Argentine let his emotions get the better of him and footage showed him running to his left before being involved in an angry fracas.

Simeone was held back by security and stewards and even attempted to get past them, with his coaching staff doing little to diffuse proceedings.

The former Lazio midfielder was sent off for his conduct, which he later explained in his post-match press conference where questions centered around his dismissal.

Simeone acknowledged that his behaviour was "unjustifiable" but claimed he had been on the receiving end of "insults" and "gestures" and said, "I hope Liverpool can improve that aspect and that when they identify the person who did that, there will be consequences."

Footage showed a Liverpool supporter angrily gesturing to Atletico's players and coaches after they scored an equaliser, though the fan in question denied saying anything out of line in the exchange.

But while he has demanded that the fan faces consequences, Simeone is set to be punished.

Article 63 of UEFA's regulations state that a player or team official sent off receives an automatic one-game ban and former UEFA referee Eduardo Iturralde Gomez believes it could get worse for the 55-year-old.

Diego Simeone was furious with Liverpool supporters. Image: Getty

"I think Simeone will receive a fine of €20,000 (£17,358), which, in quotes, is the least.," he said on radio programme El Larguero.

"It's most likely that he'll get a one-match ban, and it's also most likely that they'll put him on standby.

"What does that mean? If he's a repeat offender during the year, he'll have to serve that [extra] ban, but for now, he won't have to."

Simeone said he was "not really going to get into the exact nature of the insults but added that he knows "what went on behind the manager’s bench".

With 'Cholo' not giving too much away, Jonny Poulter, the fan at the centre of the storm, addressed the matter in a minute-long video on social media where he called Simeone a "coward".

He believes Simeone drove speculation and hearsay by not answering questions about the nature of the insults and was quick to give his version of events.

"I've had messages on every platform, I don't know how many, of people saying, 'Oh what did he say, what did you say'. I never said nothing apart from, 'Hey, hey, f*** off,' we've won, basically, as you do," he said.

"Um, but that's what he done to us when they scored the equaliser. He and his assistant manager, giving it in front of us, and obviously he was getting called a s***house or whatever else."

Poulter also claimed that Simeone's assistant manager "then came over and spat at me" following the footage going viral.

SPORTbible has reached out to Atletico Madrid for comment.