Atletico Madrid is set to launch an investigation into an altercation that occurred after the final whistle in the Liverpool Champions League match at Anfield on Wednesday, September 17.

The Spanish-based club lost 2-3 to Liverpool, but the post-match was marred by a melee after Atletico’s head coach, Diego Simeone, lost his temper, confronted one opposition fan and was sent away with a red card. Visibly agitated, he was captured being restrained by stewards and other staff of the team.

While stewards and other backroom staff worked to end the misunderstanding, a member of Atlético’s backroom staff, wearing a club-issued coat, was caught on video seemingly spitting toward Liverpool fans during the melee.

His behaviour has garnered reactions with many expressing certainty that, following the review of footage and other relevant information to authenticate this bizarre behaviour in football, the football governing body is likely to take punitive action against the staff.

BBC reports that, following an engagement with Athletico, they have confirmed that they will probe further into the case; however, they declined to comment further.

Liverpool, on the other hand, will provide any relevant CCTV footage and other information to support a potential UEFA probe.

Meanwhile, in a post-match interview, Simeon, though not justifying his behaviour, explained that he had endured the insults throughout the whole period the game was underway, which isn’t an easy situation to deal with, despite being a coach.

“They always talk about care, about respect, but they insult you from the crowd all game. I can't say anything back because I'm the coach. My reaction is not justifiable. But after 90 minutes of insults, it's not easy, ” he said.

After the game, the Argentine coach said, "It's never very good when we react as managers, is it? But if there are comments against racism or insults, we can get angry and fight back as well, managers.

"When they scored the third goal, he [the supporter] turned around and insulted me. When I turned around, I am a person and I'm human."

When asked for specifics on the insults, Simone added: "I'm not going to get into the exact nature of the insults.

"I don't want to get involved with that. I have to stay in my place. I know what went on behind the manager's bench.

"I can't solve society's problems in one press conference. I've got to live with it because it exists all over the place, " he detailed.

It is reported that Jonny Poulter, a Liverpool fan who was the centre of all this trouble after his remarks triggered Athletic coach's denial of making racist or political insults, however, confirmed that he was spat at. He is reported to have said in a post-match video he shared on his socials.

“Something I want to get off my chest here, in regards to what happened last night with Simeone, and I think he's a bit of a coward. When he went in and did his press conference after the game, the Spanish media had asked him what he said, if it was racist, if it was regarding the Falklands War and all this rubbish, right?. There was nothing racist said by me or anyone else. There was never a mention of the Falklands War by me or anyone else. Just putting it out there. Nothing racist, no mention of any war or slurs of any kind,” he shared in an X post.

According to Poulter, Simeon claims of being a target of racist comments, and his snubbing of further questions to authenticate his claims leaves room for the world to make assumptions.

“But the fact that he was asked it, and he didn't answer the question, and he just got up and walked out, has left it open for speculation for the world,” he noted.

He claims that all he said was “ 'Hey, hey, f* off,' we've won, basically, as you do” after receiving tons of DMs asking him what he said to have stirred the wrath of the Athletico coach.

“I’ve had messages on every platform, I don’t know how many, of people saying, 'Oh what did he say, what did you say'...” he added.

Poulter has a record of breaching laws when he visits the stadium.. Before this incident with Simeon, he had suffered a three-year ban from football after a 2015 altercation during Steven Gerrard’s final home game, where he was convicted of abusing a disabled fan and her husband. Also, had been cautioned in 2013 for attempting to bring smoke pellets into Wigan’s DW Stadium.