UEFA charges Pep Guardiola with improper conduct

Pep Guardiola has been charged by UEFA after he was sent from the dugout for verbally abusing the referee during Manchester City's Champions League elimination by Liverpool.

UEFA says Guardiola has been charged with "improper conduct" and "dismissal from the bench" during Man City's 2-1 loss on Tuesday. Liverpool advanced 5-1 on aggregate.

Details of the "improper conduct" were not specified, though television pictures showed Guardiola appearing to send communications to his coaching staff from his second-half seat high in the main stand.

Guardiola was formally sent off after the halftime whistle for protesting an incorrect offside decision minutes earlier which ruled out a goal that would have put Man City ahead 2-0.

UEFA says its disciplinary panel will judge the case on May 31.