- Marcelo was waiting to come off the bench and appeared to refuse an order
- He was then pushed back and his manager didn’t allow him onto the field of play
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off!, available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday
Real Madrid legend Marcelo has seen his contract with Fluminense terminated after he clashed with his manager, Mano Menezes, on the side of the pitch.
Fluminense, who the five-time Champions League winner played for in his native Brazil, were facing off against Gremio in league action on Saturday, drawing a thriller 2-2.
Marcelo, now 36, was named as a substitute for his boyhood team and was getting ready to take to the field in the second half, and was seen receiving instructions from Menezes as the duo waited for an optimum time for the substitution to be made.
In a turn of events, however, Marcelo could seemingly be seen shaking his head to an instruction, leading to Menezes pushing his defender back and questioning the response.
Marcelo could again be seen shaking his head, with Menezes pushing him back to the bench despite the player’s protests.
Real Madrid legend Marcelo has had his contract terminated by Fluminense after a touchline clash with his manager
Playing for his boyhood club again, he has featured regularly this year but is not a free agent
He won five Champions League titles as a player for Real Madrid before departing in 2022
A different player then entered the field instead – John Kennedy – as the hosts tries to see out the game.
Cameras then cut to Marcelo sitting back on the bench and putting a bib on with there confusion over the wrong number being held up on the board.
Even worse for Fluminense, they conceded a penalty in the 99th minute of stoppage time, with Reinaldo Manoel da Silva netting from the spot to earn his team a 2-2 draw.
A club statement read: ‘Fluminense FC and Marcelo Vieira announce the termination of the contract by mutual agreement between the parties.
They added: ‘The institutional and emotional ties between Fluminense and Marcelo continue to be maintained. The athlete’s name was recently immortalised in the stadium at the Xerem training center. Fluminense thanks Marcelo and will continue, as always, to support his success in all his challenges.’
Former Middlesbrough and Barcelona striker Martin Branthwaite opened the scoring for Gremio, before Jhon Arias and Kaua Elias turning the game around.
After the last-minute equaliser, Felipe Melo was sent off for Fluminense.
It now remains to be seen what the future holds for Marcelo at the club, who he has played for since 2023.
After leaving Madrid on the back of winning the Champions League as captain in 2022, he joined Olympiacos for a brief stint before moving to his homeland.
Fluminense said they ‘will continue, as always, to support his success in all his challenges’
He had made 38 appearances for the club this year after joining in 2023 and his manager spoke afterwards on the clash
He has made 38 appearances for the club this year, though may now have made his last under Menezes.
‘I was going to put Marcelo on at that moment, but I heard something I didn’t like so I changed my mind,’ Menezes, who has been in charge of the club since the start of July. ‘I put John Kennedy on the wing – he’s a strong player who offers an outlet.
‘We’ve always had an outlet. I don’t believe the team would have had problems with his arrival. It’s not easy to come on at that stage of the match. He didn’t come on to solve any issue; he came on to maintain what we had. There were two or three minutes left.
‘When you come on, you come on to close out the game, you can’t avoid it. So when you bring a player on in the closing minutes, you tell him he has to close out the match. The player knows that. But we will resolve this internally.’
