"All hell broke loose" - When Sir Alex Ferguson blasted Manchester United legend for wearing Manchester City shirt after derby loss

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has revealed that Ruud van Nistelrooy got Sir Alex Ferguson furious in the dressing room after a loss to Manchester City. He said that the Dutch striker came in with a Manchester City shirt after swapping shirts with an opponent.

The Red Devils were beaten 3-1 by the Cityzens at Maine Road in 2002. The players swapped shirts as usual, but Van Nistelrooy made the mistake of wearing the shirt to the dressing room.

Neville recalled that Sir Alex was already unhappy with the loss and seeing his striker wearing the Manchester City shirt got him furious. He was quoted by The Sun saying:

"So at the end of that game, I think it came out after, Ruud van Nistelrooy swapped shirts. Somebody asked to swap shirts with Ruud. Do you remember it (Roy Keane)? Who was it that asked to swap shirts with Ruud?"

He added:

"And he swapped shirts and walked into the dressing room with a Manchester City shirt on his (chest). I mean, all hell broke loose. He snapped! And basically, 'None of you ever, ever, swap one of my shirts ever again', pointing towards the City shirt. He went absolutely mad. Crazy. It went quiet."

Ruud van Nistelrooy's relationship with Ferguson went downhill in 2006, and he was eventually sold to Real Madrid.

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Ruud van Nistelrooy cleared the air with Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson

Ruud van Nistelrooy fell out with Sir Alex Ferguson after the training ground bust-up with Cristiano Ronaldo, and the striker was eventually benched during the business end of the 2005-06 season.

The Dutchman was happy to leave the club in the summer, as he knew his time was up at Manchester United. However, he apologised to the legendary Manchester United manager a year later, telling Gary Neville on The Overlap via MEN:

"I called him because a year later you reflect on things, and it was bugging me on a personal level. I shouldn't have said that at the time in the final.

"I apologised for that. So I started to speak, and I felt the relationship we had after the medical that failed and the relationship we built through emotions, on a personal level, maybe a few things altogether that made me react in that way that I don't feel was me, and I felt I had to apologise for that. He accepted it directly. He said, 'I'm very happy, apology accepted' and from now on we are off again."

Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy led PSG to second in the Eredivisie. However, he quit soon after the final game, as reports in AD suggest he was not happy with the board.