In a
remarkably blunt post-match address to the media, Mancini also warned Edin
Dzeko that he will not allow another outburst of the petulance which greeted
his 55th substitution, when the Bosnian glared at his manager before throwing
his boots to the ground.
But Mancini
offered no such final warning to Tévez, however, and the former City captain is now facing three
months as an outcast at the club before the reopening of the transfer window on
Jan 1.
“What I said
to Carlos is between me, him and the team.” Mancini said. “But Carlos cannot
play with us now. It is finished.
“If one
player earns a lot of money, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and
he behaves like this, for me he can’t play. Never. This can’t happen in a top
club when a player refuses to help his team-mates in an important match like
tonight.”
Tévez hit
back at Mancini, however, but insisted he was not in the right frame of mind to
play.
“I didn’t
feel I was right to play, so I didn’t.” Tévez said. “I was the top scorer last
season and I always act professionally.”
Asked
whether he feared Mancini would follow through with his threat to end his City
career, Tévez said: “It is up to him.”
Tévez, who
failed in his attempt to force a move from the club during the summer, had been
due to replace Samir Nasri in the 69th minute of City’s 2-0 Champions League
defeat in the Allianz Arena.
But Mancini
was forced to turn to James Milner as Nasri’s replacement after Tévez defied
the Italian by rejecting his call to warm-up and prepare to take Nasri’s place.
Mancini has
confirmed that he will hold talks with City chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak within
the next 24 hours to discuss Tévez’s future, but the former Inter Milan manager
has made it clear that Tévez will not play for him again.
Mancini
said: “In the next day, I’m sure I will speak with Khaldoon because is the
chairman.
“He is the
chairman and he will decide everything, but do you think at Bayern Munich a
player can behave like this, at Milan, at Manchester United? No. This is the
answer.
“I have
helped him for two years. If I decide, then yes [he goes]. But he has wanted to
leave for the last two years and now he has refused to play. I don’t know [if
the club will cancel his contract], but with me he is finished.”
Tévez has
been a controversial figure at Eastlands since his arrival from Manchester
United in a £32 million transfer in July 2009.
The
forward’s relationship with Mancini has rarely been smooth since the Italian
replaced Mark Hughes as manager in December 2009 and the pair have been
embroiled in several high-profile spats and disputes.
Tévez
complained about Mancini’s training regime shortly after his arrival as
Hughes’s successor, while the pair were involved in touchline bust-ups last season
prior to Tévez demanding a transfer last December. On that occasion, Tévez
withdrew his transfer request within a week, but the player then went public on
his desire to leave this summer before seeing a move to Corinthians fall
through due to the Brazilian club’s failure to convince City of their ability
to fund the £40 million deal.
With Tévez
criticising Manchester and describing the city as a place he would ''not even
visit on holiday”, he lost the support of his team-mates, with senior members of
the squad urging Mancini to strip him of the captaincy.
Mancini
responded to those wishes by appointing Vincent Kompany as captain at the start
of this season, but with Tévez losing the captaincy and also his place in the
team following the summer arrival of Sergio Agüero, his displeasure at being
reduced to a bit-part player has become evident in recent weeks.
Tévez’s fury
erupted last night, however, with his refusal to play for the team who continue
to pay his £200,000-a-week wages.
Mancini’s
anger was not restricted to Tévez, though, with Dzeko’s petulant reaction to
being replaced also earning a stern rebuke from the City manager.
“I am
furious with Dzeko’s performance.” Mancini said. “The next game, he will be on
the bench with me. He played a bad game, a poor game, but next time maybe if he
players better, maybe he can stay on the pitch.
“If we want
to improve to the level of Bayern Munich some players need to improve their
behaviour.
“This is the
last time one player leaves the pitch and moves his head like this.
“Dzeko is
different [to Tévez] but this is the last time he has this behaviour. I can
understand why one player is disappointed. It is important that inside he can
understand his performance.
“But I am
the manager and I can decide everything. Maybe sometimes I make a mistake and
don’t do the right things.
“I think
every manager can do what he thinks at this moment.”
Tévez’s
behaviour brought condemnation from outside the club, with former Liverpool
manager Graeme Souness backing Mancini’s stance.
Souness
said: “He [Tevez] is a disgrace to football. The owners need to get him as far
away from the club as possible because that can spread.”

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