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Even in a charity game, rivalries can still run hot, as Martin Skrtel and Diego Costa demonstrated perfectly when Liverpool Legends took on Chelsea Legends on Saturday.
The two sides came up against each other for the second time this year, with the Reds having won the previous encounter 2-0 at Anfield back in March, thanks to a Peter Crouch double.
Goals were harder to come by at Stamford Bridge on this occasion, but the game wasn’t short of its feisty moments - not least when Costa and Skrtel came up against each other towards the end of the first half.
The bad blood started when Skrtel slid in on take the ball away from Costa as the former Chelsea striker tried to run forward down the left.
Clearly not happy with the strong but fair challenge, Costa appeared to kick out at Skrtel, with the pair going head-to-head as the situation threatened to boil over. Chelsea had appeared to have been awarded a free-kick for Skrtel’s tackle, only for the decision to go the Reds’ way in the aftermath.
Just moments later, Costa looked to gain some revenge as he slid in late on Skrtel, with the former Spain international getting the rarest of punishments in a charity game for his troubles - a yellow card.
Half-time came at just the right moment to de-escalate any tension between the two, which has seemingly been bubbling ever since their playing days.
In fact, Costa was handed a three-game ban in January 2015 after replays appeared to show him stamping on Skrtel’s foot while the former Liverpool defender was on the ground during a League Cup semi-final.
Later that same year, Costa would avoid another ban after appearing to flick his boot into Skrtel’s chest during a 3-1 win for Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
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A retrospective punishment was ruled out by The FA, with referee Mark Clattenburg having been deemed to have dealt with the incident at the time as he decided that no offense had taken place.
Both Costa and Skrtel would play the full game as they renewed their rivalry a decade later, with Liverpool going on to claim victory over Chelsea for the second time this year.
Ryan Babel struck late on to make it a double for the Legends against the Blues, with Peter Crouch’s double back in March having secured a 2-0 win at Anfield.
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