10 of the biggest fights on the football pitch

#6 Francesco Totti and Mario Balotelli

Totti’s kick on Balotelli saw him red carded (Image credit: The Regista)

Another person that you’d have definitely expected to see on this list is Mario Balotelli. Totti has a reputation for being one of the gentlemen of football, and it was definitely going to take someone of Balotelli’s reputation to tempt him into a scrap. Over the years, the controversial Italian has managed to irk the likes of Jose Mourinho, Roberto Mancini and pretty much everyone in both Milan and Manchester.

(Video Courtesy: Thought Provoking YouTube Channel)

In 2010, Inter and Roma faced off in a Coppa Italia final, with the game largely being bad tempered. When Totti came on at half-time, Balotelli taunted him with ‘You’re finished granddad,’ and continued to insult him for the rest of the match. Totti responded by upending Balotelli with a hard tackle and as a result was sent off, with Inter ended up winning the match 1-0.

Balotelli then accused Totti of racism, which the Roma skipper denied, though he did admit that the media outcry that resulted from his outburst on the pitch had him seriously considering retirement.