It's almost ridiculous to consider that the Italian, who ran such an iron-fisted administration at the Etihad Stadium, is now partial to a spot of social media every now and again, but he is. Last night, as Juventus claimed a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, Mancini dared not to click on the #Tevez hashtag.
It has been almost four years since Mancini declared Carlos Tevez 'finished' at Manchester City after the Argentine refused to come on as a second-half substitute against Bayern Munich. The farce saturated the morning papers as journalists preyed on the striker's controversial reputation and assaulted him with tags of selfishness and arrogance.
Ironically, it was the same man who was utterly inspirational in Juventus's tremendous performance last night. The 31-year-old scored the winning goal and provided the assist for former Madrid forward Álvaro Morata to open the scoring at the Juventus Stadium, but his enthusiastic display failed to surprise anyone. Tevez has probably been Massimiliano Allegri's most reliable player this term, which raises questions over whether Roberto Mancini was to blame for the striker falling out of love with football in Manchester.
(Carlos Tevez was instrumental in Juventus's victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday night - image via Getty Images)
“I was on the pitch at the time so I had no idea what was happening on the bench in that part of the field. It was obviously very heated in the dressing room after the game and Mancini was going mad at Tevez telling him to go back to Argentina and then he told some other players to go back to their countries.
"I was sat next to Carlitos and at one point I thought Mancini was telling me to go back to Argentina! I was thinking, ‘What? Me as well? okay, I’ll go and see my family for a few days.’ Of course, he wasn’t speaking to me. As for speaking to Carlitos afterwards, he didn’t really say too much and the next day, he had gone back to Argentina as the manager had suggested and it was maybe four months before I saw him again when he came back to Carrington for a meeting.
"I believe there had been a number of fall-outs between Carlitos and Mancini in the past so this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Tevez can have a short fuse at times, just as Mancini did, so it was perhaps inevitable that it would explode at some point."
After that infamous four month lay-off, not even Mancini could resist leaving Tevez out of the side. Tevez returned to help City win their first Premier League title in 44 years, an admirable gesture considering he had contemplated retirement after his row with the Italian.
Signed for a reported £40m from Manchester United in 2009, the man nicknamed 'El Apache' netted 73 goals in 148 appearances for the Blues and became a symbol of their newfound success. The tenacity of the former Corinthians and West Ham United forward was unmatched at the club - his effort regularly praised by smitten fans - but his relationship with Mancini falsely conveyed him as a pretentious mercenary.
Perhaps it's unsurprising that Tevez submitted two written transfer requests during his stay at the Etihad. Citing the distance between him and his two daughters as the primary reason for both requests, the club finally handed him his wish in 2013, selling him to Juventus for a measly £12m. Given the fact that Turin is only 100km closer to Carlito's beloved Buenos Aires, it's pretty clear that Tevez was just happy to be as far away from Mancini as possible.
The striker has enjoyed two successful seasons with the club he took a significant pay-cut to join. He's bagged an impressive total of 50 goals in 92 appearances and has given no concrete indication that he is keen on leaving the club. Tevez is happy, he is treated with respect by his manager, and that obviously wasn't the case in his final years at Manchester City.
On Tuesday evening, Manchester City fans watched the performance of a player who can certainly be considered as one of the top five strikers in world football at present. Carlos Tevez outshone £190m worth of talent in Juventus's 2-1 over Real Madrid, a game in which Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos floundered. It was the performance of a £50m player that City sold for £12m - just £2m more than the fee they let Jack Rodwell go for last summer.
City's transfer directors have been slated for their poor business in recent years, but Mancini's irresponsible treatment of one of the best players Manchester City have seen in the last decade meant that Tevez just had to go. For once, Txiki Begiristain should not be ascribed the blame.
