When using \cellcolor in a tabular that is inside another tabular, it colors the outer instead of the inner cell:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{colortbl}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
a & b & c \\
d & \begin{tabular}{ccc}
e & e & e \\
e & \cellcolor{red}e & e \\
e & e & e
\end{tabular} & f \\
g & h & i
\end{tabular}
\end{document}
When using
\cellcolorin a tabular that is inside another tabular, it colors the outer instead of the inner cell: