Carlos Tevez could face a frosty reception when he arrives back at Manchester City on Tuesday after suggesting manager Roberto Mancini treated him like a dog.
Tevez is expected to end his self-imposed exile on Tuesday by returning to City in the hope of resuming his career, which has been placed on hold since his refusal to warm up during the Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich in September.
The striker denies he refused to warm up at the Allianz Arena and on the eve of his return to Manchester the Argentina international has put the blame on Mancini, claiming the Italian was in a foul mood during the defeat.
"I was kind of in a bad mood and when he brings on (Nigel) de Jong and takes off (Edin) Dzeko and we're losing 2-0 I thought it was a defensive substitution so I decided to sit back on the bench," Tevez told Fox Sports.
"I had already warmed up for 10 minutes and he has this attitude that he wants to lose 2-0 instead of 4-0.
"So I sat down and at the same time Dzeko comes off and is really angry and has a go at Mancini. He then sees the tunnel is closed so he has to sit down next to him and they start to have an argument.
"Dzeko was speaking Bosnian and Mancini would swear at him in Italian so it was a real mess.
"So I go and sit down and he doesn't see me because he's having this discussion. But then he turns around and sees me and you can imagine what happens.
"He's in the middle of an argument so then he tells me to keep on warming up and treats me like a dog.
"So when he spoke to me in that tone of voice, and I said 'No, I'm not going out'. So I was willing to play, but the coach was in such a foul mood because he had that argument with Dzeko.
"He started on me as well, started swearing at me, that was him, because I was very calm. I was just sitting on the bench and you can see from the footage that I was calm and just talking with (Pablo) Zabaleta. Mancini said some horrible things to me."
Fans are divided over whether Tevez should be allowed play for the club again but the striker believes they were 'misinformed' over the saga which saw him return to his homeland without permission.
"I believe they were misinformed, they weren't told the facts," he went on. "So that when they were told I didn't want to play they naturally turned against me.
"If a player doesn't want to play for the team that's paying his wages it's only natural for them to turn against that player.
"And I couldn't understand what was going on. I swore like any player would. I gave everything to that club and when I saw them burning my shirt with my name on it or hurling insults at me it really hurt.
"I gave everything to that club and what I love above all is to play football."
Mancini has opened the door for Tevez's return but he has warned that the striker will have to apologise in order for him to be accepted back into the fold and the 27-year-old is prepared to do so if it means playing again.
"I do not think I was wrong, but if they (the club) think so I apologise. I am ready to return, to win and do the best for the club's shirt," he added.
"Hopefully I can help City to be champions again. The most important thing for me is to return to get fit.
"I always said that at 28 I would retire. Today I say, 'No, I have much more to give'."