Inside angry Cristian Romero and Bruno Guimaraes feud after throat grab incident

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Cristian Romero reignited his long-standing feud with Bruno Guimaraes during Tottenham Hotspur's thrilling 2-2 draw against Newcastle United. The Spurs captain secured a vital point for Thomas Frank's team at St. James' Park on Tuesday night, as they look to close the gap in the race for European football.

Guimaraes, who came on for Sandro Tonali at half-time , put the Magpies ahead in the second half. The Newcastle captain blasted his shot past Romero and celebrated by cupping his ears.

Shortly afterwards, the Tottenham defender equalised, beating Dan Burn to head the ball into the bottom corner. Anthony Gordon then put the Magpies back in front after they were controversially awarded a penalty .

In the final moments of stoppage time, Romero scored with a bicycle kick and couldn't resist taunting Guimaraes – a rival at both club and international level. Mimicking the Newcastle midfielder, he also cupped his ears.

After the final whistle, Romero exchanged words with Guimaraes, sparking a brawl in the middle of the park . Mathys Tel had to hold back the Argentine as he and the Brazilian continued their verbal exchange.

This wasn't the first time the pair had clashed; tempers flared when they faced each other in a pre-season friendly earlier this year. During a match between Tottenham and Newcastle in Seoul, South Korea, Guimaraes grabbed Romero by the throat.

Just before half-time, the Tottenham defender collided with the Newcastle midfielder on the edge of the penalty area. After tumbling to the turf in a tangle, Guimaraes sprang to his feet and stormed towards Romero.

The Brazilian seized the Argentine by the neck, prompting both teams to rush in and pull the pair apart. Tensions remained high, with Joelinton adding to the drama moments later by catching Archie Gray with his elbow.

Romero hasn't got the better of Guimaraes in a competitive match since Tottenham thrashed Newcastle 4-1 in the Premier League back in December 2023. However, the Argentine can claim the bragging rights when it comes to international encounters.

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Romero was instrumental as Argentina edged Brazil 1-0 during the Copa America group stage in November 2023. The Spurs skipper went on to lift the trophy, adding to his World Cup triumph in Qatar the previous year.

Remarkably, following Tuesday's Newcastle encounter, the centre-half revealed he'd picked up his bicycle-kick technique from none other than Lionel Messi . Romero said: "Every day with Leo Messi in the national team, I watch him and it is a beautiful goal."

Meanwhile, Frank said: "The perfect bicycle kick, hit the shin, aiming for the bottom corner. I think let's start praising Cuti, I think he deserved that for all of the top performance, defending, on the ball, coolness, calmness, duels.

"And then getting up there and scoring two goals I think the bicycle kick will most likely get a little bit more praise, but I think the header is more exceptional, the way he does that is better than many strikers.

"That said, I think I really liked the character, the mentality in the team, what they showed after three tough games, I think it's been.

"To go here, the fourth game in 10 days, the third away game, very difficult place, going down two times, being behind two times, and come back, it shows everything about the willingness and the mentality in the team."

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