Balotelli was made a 'scapegoat' at Man City – Micah Richards

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards has revealed that Mario Balotelli was blamed for all the wrong reasons during his stint at the club.

The former Italian international was at the centre of every controversy and often targeted by the media during his three-year stay at the Etihad Stadium.

Despite being a troublesome fella, Micah Richards, who was Mario's teammate from 2010-2013 has disclosed that the former Inter man was mostly wrongly accused because of his reputation.

Balotelli after scoring in City's 6-1 thrashing of Manchester United in October 2011 responded with the famous 'Why Always Me' celebration which was an inscription under his jersey.

Micah Richards who also featured for Aston Villa in the Premier League after leaving the Cityzens recounted a number of times Balotelli clashed with Roberto Mancini over false accusations.

"I have had the manager and Balotelli fight and that happened at the training ground, I hope you saw the pictures?" Micah Richards asked Gary Lineker who was the host of the show.

"It was like a full-on scrap because we had the training ground but it was a public footpath, so the press used to stand there and take pictures. There were so many stories with Balotelli and Mancini, like stuff that I can't even tell you."

"There was a time that someone was in trouble and Balotelli got the blame but it was not his fault. So we're on the team bus after a game and Mancini was swearing in Italian and he's gone on to Balotelli and they are literally throwing punches and everyone was dropping on them because something happened outside and the manager blamed him but he was not the one," he said on BBC's matchday show.

Micah Richards and Mario Balotelli were part of the Man City side that won the Premier League in 2012.

Balotelli scored 20 goals in 54 appearances for City before returning to Italy in 2013 to join Milan.

WDN