Carlos Tevez's conduct against Bayern Munich was utterly reprehensible, but Manchester City deserve such treatment for the greedy and egotistical manner in which they dealt with the Argentine's transfer saga over the summer.
Tevez made it very clear that he was desperate to leave the club for a variety of different reasons, but City were hell-bent on securing an astronomical fee for the forward. In so doing, the club put money over the values of team spirit and unity.
The club are now paying the price for the arrogant way in which they behaved over the transfer window, slapping absurd fees on the head of the Argentine with money absolutely no object, effectively mocking him in the process.
This should not sound like a conspiracy theory, but City have been desperate to come out of this whole episode looking the more mature of the parties involved, and they will not be too disappointed that Tevez has now done this.
There is never any justifiable excuse for a professional footballer not being willing to come off the bench and put in a shift for the club, for his colleagues and for the manager, but Tevez will be feeling incredibly aggrieved himself.
All the sympathy is with Roberto Mancini and Tevez's City team-mates, while it could be argued that the way in which the forward himself has been treated is pretty shabby.
Mancini has humiliated the striker by keeping him confined to the substitutes' bench for the most part of the season thus far, despite his staggeringly prolific exploits in the last campaign.
It is never easy for any player to be on the sidelines, particularly when the individual involved knows full well that he is a real star and deserves his place in the side on merit.
Tevez is a real gem of a player, and there is nothing more upsetting or demoralising for a footballer of his calibre to find themselves shunted down the pecking order for reasons outside of what happens on the pitch.
At Manchester United, there is complete unity: from the cleaner all the way up to the manager. The players accept the way the club is run from the moment they walk in, and that continues to keep Sir Alex Ferguson's squad in place.
The simple fact is that City have allowed themselves to become embroiled in this ongoing saga with Tevez, and only have themselves to blame. The suits at the club have constantly been at loggerheads with the Argentine, and the whole matter has been treated pretty distastefully.
The trouble with a club like City buying their way to a powerful position such as this, is that egos are rife and there are many individuals who simply overstep the mark.
City are much better off without Garry Cook, and they will be much better off without Tevez, but there are ways of dealing with such situations with class and respect.
The club should have got rid of the forward over the summer, and they will wish that they did not let pride and matters of principle interfere with the best interests of the squad as a whole.
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Upset of the weekend: Everton v Liverpool
I don't really know if this would still be considered an upset or not at the moment, but I can see Everton beating Liverpool in the Merseyside derby this weekend.
Liverpool travel to Goodison Park with their defence having all sorts of problems, and David Moyes will be looking at the two sides thinking that the hosts have a real chance.
Kenny Dalglish's side shipped four goals against Spurs, then could not keep clean sheets against either Brighton or Wolves. Everton could well have enough to claim a big victory.
Match of the weekend: Tottenham v Arsenal
The match that I'm most excited about watching this weekend is the north London derby, as I believe it will be another high-scoring, open encounter.
I am backing Tottenham to prevail as Arsenal's back four has been in disarray of late, and the hosts will have too much going forward for Arsene Wenger's men.
The Gunners have looked very fragile in defence this season and, despite the threats they post in the final third of the field, Spurs will feel as though there are goals for the taking at White Hart Lane.