Marco Materazzi claims he gave Mario Balotelli "a good beating" after the bad boy striker threw his Inter Milan shirt to the floor in a stroppy outburst.
The pair were teammates at the Nerrazurri when manager Jose Mourinho led the team to Champions League glory in the 2009/10 season.
In the semi-finals Inter came up against defending champions and tournament favourites Barcelona, and won the first leg 3-1.
Balotelli had to make do with a place on the bench for the fixture, but was seemingly intent on under-performing.
And he did just that after failing to make an impact as a substitute before chucking his shirt onto the ground as he left the field at the final whistle.
Materazzi said on an Instagram Live video: "I gave him a good beating, it's true. I love Mario, but he really deserved it that day.
"We've become friends again now, practically brothers, but he did something that day that he really should not have done.
"Throwing his shirt to the ground after the final whistle wasn't even the worst of it.
"Before the game, on the team bus, he told us: 'Today I'm going to play badly,' so I promised to make him pay if he did."
Balotelli had even made angry gestures towards Inter's fans during his performance.
And after committing the cardinal sin of throwing the club colours to the ground, Materazzi made sure he followed up on his promise.
"When he came off the bench, he tried a shot from midfield rather than go on the counter. Diego Milito wanted to kill him," Materazzi added.
"We believed in Mario, he scored many goals and contributed to the victory, but a week after that, I asked Mourinho to put me against Balotelli in the training ground games between ranks.
"After a few seconds, I'd sent him back to the dressing room."
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