Cristian Romero and Bruno Guimaraes have never seen eye-to-eye and the Tottenham and Newcastle stars clashed again at St James' Park
Cristian Romero reignited his age-old feud with Bruno Guimaraes following Tottenham Hotspur's dramatic 2-2 draw with Newcastle United. The Lilywhites captain salvaged a crucial point for Thomas Frank's side at St. James' Park on Tuesday night as they look to make up ground in the race for European football.
Guimaraes, who replaced Sandro Tonali at the break, fired the Magpies into the lead midway through the second half. The Newcastle skipper smashed his effort past Romero, and he wheeled away in celebration, cupping his ears.
A few moments later, the Tottenham defender levelled proceedings, darting ahead of Dan Burn to head the ball into the bottom corner. Anthony Gordon restored the Magpies' lead after they were controversially awarded a penalty.
Then, in the dying embers of stoppage time, Romero scored a bicycle-kick, and he was desperate to rub salt in the wounds of Guimaraes – a rival for club and country. Mocking the Newcastle midfielder, he also cupped his ears.
Following the full-time whistle, Romero directed a few words at Guimaraes, igniting a brawl in the middle of the park. Mathys Tel held the Argentine back as he and the Brazilian went back and forth.
It wasn't the first time the pair had locked horns; red mist descended when they faced one another in a pre-season friendly earlier this year. When Tottenham played Newcastle in Seoul, South Korea, Guimaraes grabbed Romero by the throat.
Shortly before the break, the Tottenham defender clashed with the Newcastle midfielder on the edge of the box. After falling to the ground in a heap, Guimaraes leapt to his feet and charged towards Romero.
The Brazilian grabbed the Argentine by the throat, and both sets of teams rushed to separate the duo. Things had hardly cooled down; a few moments later, Joelinton threw fuel on the fire when he elbowed Archie Gray.
Romero hasn't beaten Guimaraes in a competitive fixture since Tottenham defeated Newcastle 4-1 in the Premier League in December 2023. That said, the Argentine holds the bragging rights on the international stage.
Romero helped Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in the group stage of the Copa America in November 2023. The Spurs captain went on to win the tournament, a year after lifting the World Cup in Qatar.
Funnily enough, speaking after the Newcastle clash on Tuesday, the centre-back suggested that he had learned how to score such a bicycle-kick from Lionel Messi. As quoted by the Mirror, Romero said: "Every day with Leo Messi in the national team I watch him and it is a beautiful goal."
Meanwhile, Frank said: "The perfect bicycle kick, hit the shin, aiming for the bottom corner. I think let's start praising Cuti, I think he deserved that for all of the top performance, defending, on the ball, coolness, calmness, duels.
"And then getting up there and scoring two goals I think the bicycle kick will most likely get a little bit more praise, but I think the header is more exceptional, the way he does that is better than many strikers.
"That said, I think I really liked the character, the mentality in the team, what they showed after three tough games, I think it's been. To go here, the fourth game in 10 days, the third away game, very difficult place, going down two times, being behind two times, and come back, it shows everything about the willingness and the mentality in the team."