HOW ALESSANDRO BASTONI’S "ENTHUSIASTIC" DIVE TIPPED THE DERBY D’ITALIA
Injustice at San Siro? Read the full breakdown of Alessandro Bastoni’s dive, Pierre Kalulu’s red card, and the Rocchi apology.
Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni is in hot water after he drew a second yellow card for Juventus rival Pierre Kalulu, leading to a controversial red card in a wild Serie A match at San Siro. Juventus finished with ten men and lost 3-2. The head of officiating in Italy even apologised to Juve afterwards, but honestly, apologies don’t give back the points they lost. When the final whistle blew, you could see the frustration all over Juve’s faces.
Kalulu, a French international who’s been linked to Premier League clubs, saw red in the 42nd minute. The referee said he yanked Bastoni’s shirt, but replays showed there was no contact. Bastoni hit the turf anyway, selling the foul, and the ref bought it. VAR couldn’t do anything about it, since it can’t review yellow cards, so the call stood. To make things worse, Inter grabbed a winner in the 90th minute.
Juve’s coach Luciano Spalletti and football director Giorgio Chiellini marched straight to referee Federico La Penna at halftime, furious. After the match, Chiellini told reporters, “What happened is unacceptable. We’re here, not Spalletti, for a reason.”
Damien Comolli, Juve’s chief executive, didn’t hold back either. “It was a total injustice. Juve lost three points, but Italian football lost even more. To our fans, I’m sorry for what they saw. We can’t fight, win, or even play under these circumstances. To Juve, I say we’re united against this, and we’re not giving up.”
The fallout didn’t end there. Serie A’s referee boss, Gianluca Rocchi, admitted the decision was wrong and said he wished VAR could have helped. He also called out players who try to “cheat” the officials. “We’re really disappointed not just with La Penna’s mistake, which was obvious, but also because VAR couldn’t fix it,” Rocchi told Ansa. “La Penna feels terrible, and we feel for him. But he’s not the only one at fault. There was a clear dive, just the latest in a league where players try everything to trick us.”
Rocchi said Serie A referees own up to their mistakes, but he’s frustrated by coaches who pile on rather than support the officials. “They’ve never helped us, just made our job harder,” he said. Then, pointing fingers at players who bend the rules, he added, “Some people need to take a good look at themselves. I’m talking about those who step on the pitch and act like this.”
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.
