The rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool is one of the fiercest in football, with a history filled with numerous flashpoints. One of the most memorable incidents occurred during their clash at Old Trafford in February 2012, which was fuelled by events from their previous meeting at Anfield four months earlier.
Luis Suarez had received an eight-game suspension for racially abusing Patrice Evra. When they met again, Suarez refused to shake Evra's hand, igniting tensions that simmered throughout the match. The striker further antagonized the situation by kicking the ball towards the United dugout and into the crowd before half-time.
Despite scoring later in the game, his strike wasn't enough to secure a win for Liverpool, with Wayne Rooney's two goals ensuring victory for United. At the end of the match, Evra celebrated in front of Suarez, a moment captured by the cameras.
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What happened next in the tunnel wasn't filmed, but former Liverpool winger Stewart Downing, who played in the match, revealed details on the Under The Cosh podcast, reports the Mirror .
"Stuff was going back and forward, and then just before half-time, the ball lands to him [Suarez] and he just blasts the ball at the dugout," Downing said. "On the whistle, blasts it straight at the Man United bench. And he was sort of taking the full ground on."
Dishing the dirt on the drama following a fiery match, he said: "We go in the tunnel and it kicks off. I dunno if it was sort of, like, I say planned... [Nemanja] Vidic wasn't in the squad but he was in the tunnel. It was just kicking off.
"You see [Wayne] Rooney running down and I remember thinking 'I'm definitely at the back here'. But Rooney was in the back going, 'what's going on? ' and I thought 'keep him out of it because he might throw one'.
"I think he was trying to break it up but Rio [Ferdinand] and Vidic have made a scene of it and big Pepe [Reina] got involved. I'm sure Rio clocked Dirk Kuyt on the sly, on the cheek.
"It was one of them where he [Kuyt] wasn't looking and he's [Ferdinand] clocked him, and he was like 'I'm gonna kill him'. Dirk lost his head, 'I'm gonna kill him'."
Dirk Kuyt, despite the confrontation with Ferdinand who denied striking him, never got the chance for an on-pitch revenge as he moved to Fenerbahce in Turkey after that season ended. Similarly, Kenny Daglish made his departure from Liverpool after the team only managed to secure an eighth-position finish.
The season saw United dramatically lose the title to local rivals Manchester City, courtesy of Sergio Aguero's unforgettable 93rd-minute goal. Evra and Suarez would later meet again when Barcelona took on Juventus in the 2015 Champions League final, marking a handshake that had been three years in the making.
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