"Do you know what it's like to be insulted for 90 minutes?"

Diego Simeone has complained about fan abuse following his red card at Liverpool and is demanding consequences. Simeone himself is anything but a clean slate.

The Champions League match between Liverpool FC and Atletico Madrid (3-2) provided another prime example of how quickly emotions can change in football – in the person of Diego Simeone . After just six minutes, his team was 2-0 down, but two goals from Liverpool specialist Marcos Llorente finally sniffed the penalty spot. The coach and his team celebrated lavishly, especially the equalizer in the 81st minute.

But Virgil van Dijk turned the tables with his header to make it 3-2 in stoppage time. On Atletico's bench, all the dams broke again, but this time out of pure anger. Simeone complained of being massively insulted by the Liverpool fans positioned behind him; one particularly gleeful and loud supporter, along with numerous raised middle fingers, were clearly visible on TV images. Stewards at Anfield Road had their hands full ensuring the altercation didn't escalate into a physical altercation.

Simeone declined to reveal details about the incident. "I won't go into the nature of the insults. I don't want to get involved in that discussion," he said. "I know what was going on behind the bench. I can't solve society's problems in a press conference. I have to live with it." Simeone acted that way because "I'm human."

Ultimately, however, the Argentine overstepped the bounds, even in the opinion of referee Maurizio Mariani , who showed the coach a red card. Simeone, meanwhile, is convinced that something fundamental must change and spoke out in defense of his profession. "We coaches have no right, no opportunity to answer or react. And it's never good if we do. We can get angry, too," he defended himself. "Just as we fight racism, we should also address this issue. Because we have no right to react to it, and it's not easy to be insulted throughout the entire game."

Perhaps these words would resonate more were Simeone himself not more of a Rambo than a gentleman on the sidelines. Even though he's been quieter in recent years, his list of misdeeds is still lengthy: After the 2014 Champions League final loss, he tried to get at Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane ("He shot a ball in my direction and that made me angry"). That same year, he lightly punched a fourth official twice on the back of the head and received an eight-match ban.