REFEREE CHIEF APOLOGISES TO JUVENTUS AFTER "ABSURD" PIERRE KALULU RED CARD ERROR
Inter beat 10-man Juventus 3-2! Read about Zielinski’s winner and the "absurd" Kalulu red card that has sparked a Serie A crisis.
Inter Milan and Juventus cranked up their old rivalry again on Saturday night, and man, it was wild. The match exploded into drama, with Inter snatching a 3-2 win after Piotr Zielinski hammered in a stoppage-time goal against a Juventus squad left with just ten men.
Juventus lost Pierre Kalulu in the first half after he picked up two pretty questionable yellow cards. Inter’s players didn’t hide their delight; they celebrated while Juve fumed. You could see the frustration boiling over, both on the pitch and off. Juventus made it very clear they were furious about the officiating.
At halftime, Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti, along with directors Damien Comolli and Giorgio Chiellini, stormed over to referee Federico La Penna. They weren’t quiet about it, either. All three were animated, shouting as they marched towards the dressing rooms, making sure La Penna knew exactly how they felt about Kalulu’s red card.
Kalulu tried to plead his case, insisting he was innocent, but it didn’t matter. The damage was done.
The anger didn’t stop there. Spalletti refused to speak to the media after the match, leaving Comolli and Chiellini to vent for him. Chiellini didn’t hold back on Sky Sport Italia. “We can’t talk about football after what happened today,” he said, clearly still seething. “This was completely unacceptable. It doesn’t matter if it happens to us or anyone else; VAR has to change after this. It’s not acceptable for so many errors to keep happening, especially in big games.”
Chiellini pointed out that Juventus, and plenty of other teams this season, have been saying since the beginning that Serie A’s refereeing just isn’t good enough. “This is what we’ve shown the world tonight,” he added. “It’s been happening to too many teams, and we have to stop messing around and actually change something in Italian football.”
Kalulu, as he left the field, even made a VAR gesture, which you can’t do, especially after a second yellow. But VAR didn’t step in, which just made Juve even angrier. Chiellini kept going: “Clubs have been complaining all season that the infrastructure just isn’t up to Serie A’s standards. Whether it’s poor training or just not being good enough, the referees aren’t at the level they should be.”
He even called out Gianluca Rocchi, Italy’s referee chief. “If Rocchi keeps saying he’ll step down, then let’s see if he actually does. Last week, Genoa’s De Rossi complained; before that, it was Roma’s Gasperini and Napoli’s Conte. We’re not the first, and we won’t be the last. Something’s broken, and the protocol has to change. Tonight proved it. Referees are human, just like players and coaches, but La Penna clearly wasn’t up to this game.”
Comolli, echoing Chiellini, called it “embarrassing” on Sky Sport Italia. “As a club, we feel embarrassed. From the owners to the fans, the players, and the coach, it can’t happen again. But it keeps happening, over and over. Tonight summed up the whole season. The whole world was watching, and it was just embarrassing.”
He also admitted nobody from Juve spoke to La Penna after the match. “No, we didn’t talk to him. It’s tough to accept this kind of injustice,” Comolli said. “We have to speak up. I talked to Luciano, Francois, and Giorgio. I didn’t talk to the players; I just told them ‘well done’ because they fought hard. But honestly, football wasn’t the main story tonight. The coach is frustrated and disappointed. It’s just not acceptable.”
LUCIANO SPALLETTI OFFICIALLY EXTENDS JUVENTUS TENURE UNTIL 2028 AFTER IMPRESSIVE INTERIM SPELL
Juventus coach Spalletti extends his contract until 2028. Get the latest on the Serie A top-four race and match news.
Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti just signed a new two-year deal with the club, capping off a promising six months at the helm.
He broke the news to his players first, right before Friday’s training session. Not long after, Juventus posted a video of Spalletti sharing the update. “I wanted you to hear it from me before anyone else,” he told the squad. “We’ve decided to extend my contract by another two years. I wanted to tell you before the news got out. Honestly, the road ahead looks tough, but I’m convinced we’ll tackle it together. With your character and your fight, we can turn every challenge into something bigger.”
Spalletti took charge back in October, stepping in after Juventus sacked Igor Tudor. Tudor’s departure came after three straight losses and a long, frustrating stretch without a win. At the time, Juventus handed Spalletti an eight-month contract. The word was, he'd get an automatic two-year extension if the team qualified for the Champions League.
Right now, Juventus sits just outside the Champions League spots, one point back from fourth-place Como, with seven games left in the season.
“When I joined seven months ago, the club gave me this short contract,” Spalletti explained. “The idea was simple: let’s give it some time, get to know each other, then decide at the end of the season if we want to keep going.”
Back then, Juventus sat in seventh place, fighting just to stay in Europe. In the Champions League, they were already scrambling to avoid elimination.
Things have improved since Spalletti took over. Juventus has picked up 17 wins, six losses, and eight draws in 31 matches. They managed to push through to the Champions League playoffs, though Galatasaray knocked them out.
Club CEO Damien Comolli praised Spalletti’s impact. “Since joining us, Luciano’s made a real difference on the pitch, around the club, and among our fans,” Comolli said. “He’s exactly the kind of leader we need. His ambitious football matches what we all expect from Juventus, and he stands for what our club’s all about. So, we want to keep going with him. We believe stability and continuity are key to reaching our goals.”
Juventus hasn’t lifted the Serie A trophy since 2020, when they wrapped up a run of nine straight titles.
Before arriving in Turin, Spalletti led Napoli to the Serie A title in 2023, then took charge of Italy’s national team. That stint didn’t go well; he lost his job last June after a shaky start in World Cup qualifying. Now, he’s got another shot to lead a powerhouse club.
NAPOLI LEAPFROG AC MILAN INTO SECOND PLACE WITH VITAL 1-0 SAN SIRO VICTORY
Napoli beat AC Milan 1-0 to move into second place. Discover how Politano and McTominay are chasing Inter for the title.
Napoli snatched a late 1-0 win over AC Milan at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, keeping their hopes for a second straight Serie A title very much alive. Scott McTominay played the entire match, and with Napoli sitting third before kickoff, their victory bumped them ahead of Milan into second place, just seven points behind Inter. That gap was a daunting 11 points a mere three weeks ago, but Napoli's five-game winning streak, combined with Inter dropping points, has changed the picture fast. With seven matches left, McTominay and the team aren’t giving up on defending their scudetto.
Early in the game, McTominay nearly had Napoli fans holding their breath when he tried a bicycle kick, a move that’s become one of his signatures. This time, though, he couldn't duplicate his Hampden magic from last November against Denmark. The ball skipped wide.
The game felt tense and looked to be heading for a draw until the 79th minute. That’s when Napoli broke through with a quick attack down the left. McTominay didn’t get the goal, but his movement from a Mathias Olivera cross caused chaos in the Milan box. Matteo Politano, coming on as a sub, pounced at the far post and put in a tidy left-footed finish.
Billy Gilmour, McTominay’s Scotland teammate, didn’t get on the pitch. He’d started in three of his last four Serie A appearances, but this time watched from the bench.
Napoli’s next game takes them away to Parma, who sit in 13th. Inter travelled to play Como later that same day. Talking about the title race, manager Antonio Conte said, “Scudetto? It's tough. Inter is really strong and is having an incredible season. We can’t slip up; we need them to make mistakes, and not just once. Honestly, we have to be realistic… Inter deserves to lead. Still, we’ve won the Supercoppa and sit second. We should be pretty happy. With all our injuries and problems, this season could easily have gone off the rails.”
Around the rest of Serie A, Lennon Miller, who didn’t see action for Scotland over the international break, came off the bench for Udinese in the 65th minute of their scoreless draw with Como. On Sunday, Lewis Ferguson saw red for the first time in Italy after picking up two yellows in thirty seconds late in Bologna’s 2-1 win at Cremonese. Che Adams found the net for Torino in their 1-0 victory over Pisa.
