In the Round of 16 of the Champions League in 2011, Tottenham went past AC Milan.
The game is known for Spurs’ strong performance across the two legs. It also become famous for a touchline clash involving Rino Gattuso and Joe Jordan.
At that time, the Scotsman was Tottenham’s first-team coach under Harry Redknapp. Gattuso was approaching the end of his illustrious playing career.
Jordan has spoken to Gazzetta dello Sport about the incident.
“I think he lost his mind a bit. He’d been sent off, he was supposed to leave the pitch, he walked in front of me and we had a face-to-face confrontation.”
Jordan revealed he made sure the incident didn’t escalate, given his position at Tottenham.
“There was no way I was going to let it go any further: as a player, when you’re in the grip of emotion, you can do things you later regret. As a coach you always have to be disciplined.”
He believes Gattuso would now look back on the incident quite differently.
“I’m sure that now that he’s a coach, he thinks the same way. For me, however, it was all over after the match.”
It is evident that the incident isn’t a big deal for Jordan anymore. It was a big event around Tottenham at the time, however, it may have been a bigger deal for those watching.