INJURED Arsenal ace Gabriel Magalhães was finally back on the pitch — but only to get in a bust-up at six-a-side friendly he wasn’t even playing in.
The £80m-rated centre-half, 27, became embroiled in a bizarre spat during a kickabout featuring his dad Marcelo on Tuesday night.
The Gunners star was invited to support his old man at the clash in Peckham, South London, which was arranged between supporters of Brazilian side Botafogo.
But the kickabout ended early when a player on Marcelo’s team was crunched by a horror tackle and left lying in agony on the ground.
The incident prompted fan favourite “Big Gabi” to run at full speed across the astroturf to confront the offending player face-to-face.
A video obtained by The Sun shows Gabriel, wearing a black cap and a hoodie, berating an opposition player in Portuguese.
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An onlooker, who had gone to watch his pal at the game, said: “It was really unexpected. He didn’t look injured when he sprinted across the pitch to get involved.
The player tackled wasn’t his dad. I don’t know if he knew them personally but he seemed to just see red and fly off the handle.
“Nobody quite knew what to say but it was really intense.
“It shows how passionate he is about football that he would get this competitive over a six-a-side match between two amateur teams playing for fun in the evenings.
“He had a bit of a shout – it wasn’t physical – and then that probably got it out of his system.
“Then everything calmed down.”
It is thought the game ended after the errant tackle with both sets of players, including Marcelo choosing to call it a night and go home.
The defender has been one of Arsenal’s most consistent first-team players since signing from French club Lille in 2020.
Gabriel has been out with an inner thigh adductor muscle injury sustained in an international friendly for Brazil against Senegal at the Emirates on November 15.
He is expected to return in early January.
Arsenal’s other first choice centre-back, French star William Saliba, is also out injured but could return as early as tonight (sat) when the Gunners face Wolves.
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