Inter Milan and Juventus‘ long-standing rivalry went up another notch on Saturday night following an explosive Serie A encounter.
Inter emerged as 3-2 winners thanks to Piotr Zielinski’s second-half stoppage time strike against their 10-man opponents.
Juventus were reduced to 10 men in the first half when Pierre Kalulu was shown two contentious yellow cards – which Inter players celebrated.
And Juve’s aggravation spilled out on the pitch and off the pitch as they let their displeasure known at the officiating.
At the full-time whistle, Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti as well as directors Damien Comolli and Giorgio Chiellini let referee Federico La Penna know their opinion of Kalulu’s sending off in a furious exchange.
The furious trio can be seen animated and shouting at La Penna as they all make their way towards the dressing rooms.
Pierre Kalulu tries to plead his innocence after being sent off during Juventus’s loss at Inter
Such was their anger that Spalletti did not speak to the media post-match with Comolli and Chiellini instead venting their displeasure on his behalf.
‘We cannot talk about football after what happened today,’ an incensed Chiellini told Sky Sport Italia.
‘Something completely unacceptable happened today, it doesn’t matter whether it happens to us or someone else, and from tomorrow presumably VAR will have to change, because this is not acceptable that so many errors keep happening even in big games like this.
‘We’ve been trying to say since the start of the season that the level of refereeing is not up to the task, and this unfortunately is the spectacle we showed to the rest of the world today. It happened too many teams this season, we have to change, we cannot keep procrastinating the way we always do in Italian football.’
During his dismissal, Kalulu made a VAR signal – something that can not be done as it was a second yellow card offence.
And VAR’s non-involvement angered Chiellini who continued: ‘It has been since the start of the season that many clubs have been complaining the infrastructure is just not at the level of Serie A.
‘I don’t know if they’re not trained properly, not up to the task, whatever the reason for it, the fact is the referees are not up to the standard of Serie A football.”
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