Unai Emery is usually one for politeness and hearty greetings, as known from his time managing Arsenal in England where he was most known for his “good ebening” wishes while addressing the media before games.
But Emery went against his characteristic morals when he left Marcelo Bielsa hanging before a pre-season outing.
Emery’s Villarreal were up against Bielsa’s Leeds United in a pre-season friendly ahead of the upcoming season, and the Spanish manager snubbed the visionary Argentinian head coach’s handshake in a video that has since gone viral online.
Before the Yellow Submarines met the Whites at Elland Road, Unai Emery greeted Bielsa with a warm hug on his day back in England.
But when Bielsa stretched out his arm to shake Emery’s hand, Emery did not pay him any attention and just turned away towards the away coach’s allotted technical area.
This hurts me so much #lufc #bielsa @TheSquareBall pic.twitter.com/XlFORWJ2Fu
— Simon (@SimonAG24) August 7, 2021
As a result, Bielsa was left hanging in a moment that has since gone viral amongst the football community on social media platforms.
While some football fans online thought it was disrespectful and extremely sneaky on the part of the former Arsenal manager, others thought that Emery was innocent as he did not notice Bielsa’s outstretched hand before the match.
Unai Emery is now public enemy number one, and must be destroyed https://t.co/S7ZW0xtd63
— Paul (@pauljchambers) August 8, 2021
Bad ebening https://t.co/vrNv0UVCH8
— LUFC Lewis (@LewisDeighton17) August 7, 2021
Leeds started the match with a comical error as a Robin Koch own goal in the first nine seconds, but goals from Mateusz Klich and Patrick Bamford sent the Whites into the lead before halftime.
Even though Bielsa’s side dominated the first half, an equalizer from Villarreal substitute Dani Rana meant that the spoils were shared 2-2 at full time.
The two managers met once again after the full-time whistle, and this time the two managers did indulge in a post-match handshake.