Benfica president Rui Costa gets into a fight with a member of Real Madrid staff. The whole dressing room had to break it up...
Benfica refuses to accept defeat and the unsportsmanlike conduct of Real Madrid's players.
Details: According to COPE, 53-year-old Rui Costa, the current president of Lisbon's Benfica, got into a fight with a member of the Real Madrid staff following last night's Champions League clash.
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Reports indicate that the end of the match was so emotionally charged that both sides started confronting each other in the tunnel. At one point, the Benfica president himself joined the fray—initially trying to separate and calm the players. However, when he noticed Real Madrid's press officer filming the incident, he asked him to stop recording, but was ignored.
Realizing his request would not be heeded, Costa attempted to forcibly take the camera, which escalated into a scuffle that had to be broken up by players from both teams.
Despite Benfica's press office issuing a statement denying any fight took place, journalist Manolo Lama insisted the incident did occur:
"I affirm that there was a fight in the dressing room where the president of Benfica was present."
The second leg between Real and Benfica is set for February 25 at the Santiago Bernabéu.
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Kenley Ward
Dailysports's expert