Atletico's raging bull ready for Real Madrid

12:40 | 11.09.2014
Atletico's raging bull ready for Real Madrid

Atletico's raging bull ready for Real Madrid

When reigning La Liga champions Atletico Madrid make the journey across town to face Real at the Bernabeu on Saturday, they will have to cope without the usual sideline exhortations of inspirational manager Diego Simeone.

The fiery Argentine is currently banished to the stands as he serves an eight-match touchline suspension after cuffing the fourth official on the neck during the most recent Madrid derby, the second leg of last month's Spanish Super Cup, which Atletico won with a 2-1 aggregate victory.In their manager's absence, Atletico will instead be led from the sidelines by Simeone's assistant and compatriot German Burgos, a larger-than-life former goalkeeper who enhanced his reputation as one of the most colourful characters in Spanish football during the last league derby against Real, a 2-2 draw at the Vicente Calderon in March.When Diego Costa, who has since joined Chelsea, was denied a penalty after tumbling under a challenge from Alvaro Arbeloa, Burgos simply exploded, facing up to referee Carlos Delgado Ferreiro with such ferocity that it took six men to drag him back, earning one of the most obvious dug-out dismissals ever witnessed and a three-game touchline ban.That wasn't the first derby flare-up involving the man universally known by his nickname 'El Mono' (The Monkey) because of his reach. Burgos, 45, also had a spat with Jose Mourinho at the Bernabeu in December 2012.Referring to a notorious touchline incident in an October 2011 meeting between Real and Barcelona when Mourinho viciously poked Tito Vilanova in the eye, leading the usually placid Barca coach to gently shove the Real boss in return, Burgos concluded his own pitchside dispute with Mourinho by delivering the sinister line: "I'm not Tito - I'll rip your head off."And it was no hollow threat because Burgos is not afraid of getting physical: Whilst playing for Mallorca in 1999, he earned an 11-game ban, one of the heaviest sanctions in Spanish football history, after knocking out Espanyol's Manuel Serrano with a hefty punch.(BBC)Bakudaily.Az

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