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10 Things In Italy: VAR In Florence, Juventus Struggle & Daniele De Rossi

10 Things In Italy: VAR In Florence, Juventus Struggle & Daniele De Rossi

This week's edition of "10 Things In Italy" touches on VAR, Juve's struggles, and much more.

Feb 28, 2019 by Adam Digby
10 Things In Italy: VAR In Florence, Juventus Struggle & Daniele De Rossi

Another seven days have passed in the wonderful world of Italian football, so let 10 Things get you caught up with what’s going on!

1.Two VAR-Y Different Men In Florence

On the surface, a 3-3 draw with the last goal coming in the 101st minute should’ve meant that Fiorentina-Inter was a thrilling encounter. The referee had other ideas. During the course of the game, there were a number of difficult decisions — exactly why VAR was introduced — but the official on the field somehow managed to misuse the technology each and every time. 

Rosario Abisso changed his mind on decisions he’d made correctly, stuck with mistakes he’d made despite the benefit of watching a replay, and awarded spot kicks to both teams that were, at best, highly debatable. 



While the performance of the referee deserves huge criticism, what cannot be ignored is how the two coaches dealt with the aftermath. Luciano Spalletti was rightly angry after his side were denied all three points at the death, but he completely denied that his team had benefited from any of the decisions. 

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the Inter boss laughably claimed on Sky Italia that Edimilson Fernandes “stuck his arm up and waved it around with nobody bothering him” before launching into a tirade about the penalty awarded against the Nerazzurri. 

“You could even see it from the bench,” Spalletti told reporters at the post-match press conference. “We were certain that it wasn’t a handball. We all saw it, even from the referee’s monitor. There were 10 of us watching it. It clearly hit his chest, Danilo [D’Ambrosio] didn’t touch it with his arm at all. It’s clear for all to see.”

In stark contrast, a calm, measured and in-control Stefano Pioli simply told Sky Italia that “to be honest, I wouldn’t have given either of the penalties.” I know which approach I prefer.

2. Matteo Politano & Federico Chiesa Shine Again



While the match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi might have descended into controversy, that should not be allowed to detract from the performances of two exciting wingers. Both Federico Chiesa and Matteo Politano made their presence felt in this encounter, the former repeatedly leaving defenders trailing in his wake with exquisite touches like the ones shown above.

Not to be outdone, his Italy international teammate ripped open the Fiorentina defense on a number of occasions, including the one in the video below that led to him scoring a truly sensational goal.



With two such exciting attacking talents, the Azzurri can finally begin to look forward to a bright future, the play of 25-year-old Politano and Chiesa — who is only 21 — something positive to build around.

3. Fiorentina Fans Honour Davide Astori

As if one 3-3 draw was not enough, Fiorentina added a second in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday night, but perhaps even greater than what happened on the pitch, it was the display in the stands that most caught the eye.

Viola vice president Giancarlo Antognoni – who has lifted the trophy for Fiorentina as a player – had told viewers what to expect, saying in an interview with RAI that “the fans will be our 12th man” . . . and he was proven absolutely correct.



Putting on an incredible display, the Curva Fiesole displayed a superb choreography that depicted the captain’s armband worn by Federico Chiesa in honor of former skipper Davide Astori, who died last year on March 4.

“The Curva paid homage to a great person who is no longer here, but he is with us every Sunday, every Wednesday, every training session, every hour of every day,” Chiesa said after the game. “We fought to the end, it’s a bitter result, but we go to Bergamo ready to do battle with Davide and our fans behind us. It’s all absolutely still hanging in the balance.”

4. Juventus Continue To Rely On Individual Brilliance

This season — and particularly the past two months — has seen Juventus rely on individual moments of skill to decide matches rather than delivering any semblance of coherent team play. After they were dismantled in Madrid by Atleti, many expected to see a reaction of some kind from the Bianconeri against relegation-threatened Bologna, but Sunday’s clash was simply a continuation of the same woeful output.

For large portions of the game at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, the hosts were the better side; only some woeful finishing from their frontmen saw Juve keep the game scoreless. However, as the match wore on, the introduction of Paulo Dybala swung the result in their favor, his goal coming from almost nothing but ultimately ensuring the Old Lady claimed all three points.



With a match against Napoli and the return encounter with Diego Simeone’s men looming large on the horizon, Max Allegri – whose failings were discussed this previous column – needs to find solutions to the problem as quickly as possible.

5. Giorgio Chiellini: Captain, Leader, Legend!

Juventus were so poor against Bologna that, for the last 20 minutes, they found themselves clinging to that one-goal lead, pushed back deeper and deeper by an opponent who lacked the quality to truly trouble their defense.

Leonardo Bonucci and Daniele Rugani struggled in the face of Bologna’s tenacious attacking trio. After the pair timidly allowed themselves to be bullied by vastly inferior players, Giorgio Chiellini – who had been rested by Max Allegri – jumped up from the bench and took up a spot on the touchline, leading the Juve back four and barking instructions on where they should position themselves. 



It didn’t work, and with five minutes to go Allegri sent him on to do it himself. Chiellini made just one interception and one clearance, but it’s impossible to deny how important he was to the Bianconeri taking home all three points. 

6. Don’t Annoy Fabio Quagliarella

Cagliari boss Rolando Maran has built his reputation on an ability to infuriate opponents, and for much of Sunday’s lunchtime clash, it seemed his side was doing just that to Sampdoria. Even with a long injury list, they were – thanks to the rigid defensive setup of the former Chievo boss – able to hold the Blucerchiati scoreless, the hosts unable to find a way through a thoroughly resilient Sardinian outfit.

When they did open up the defense, they found Alessio Cragno is superb form, the Cagliari goalkeeper making superb saves from Jacopo Sala, Riccardo Saponara, and Dennis Praet to preserve his clean sheet. 

But when fullback Luca Pellegrini was penalized for tugging Manolo Gabbiadini’s shirt, Cragno made the mistake of trying to antagonize Fabio Quagliarella. It didn’t work as the ‘Doria striker smashed his penalty into the back of the net with power and precision, then ran up to the goalkeeper and screamed in his ear. Point made.

7. Napoli Back Among The Goals

While Maurizio Sarris’ struggles at Chelsea have been well-documented, Carlo Ancelotti has quietly set about transforming his former club Napoli into a very different side. Previously a free-scoring outfit, the Partenopei had begun to struggle under the new boss, going into last weekend having drawn their two previous Serie A games 0-0. 

They were no such problems against Parma, however, as Napoli suddenly burst back into life with a 4-0 victory that clearly left the coach delighted with how his players to a demand for a more direct approach. 

“Do you know how many times a team scores a goal after more than 20 passes?” Ancelotti asked in an interview with Il Napolista. “In a year, it might happen twice. If there’s the possibility of playing out from the back, that’s good, but if you risk getting stuck back there, it’s better not to bother!”

8. Defense First For Lazio and AC Milan

Having both previously looking extremely dangerous in attack, it was the defenses of AC Milan and Lazio that came to the fore during their Coppa Italia semifinal clash. The likes of Ciro Immobile and Krzysztof Piatek found openings hard to come by, just as they did 12 months ago at the same stage of this competition.

Last season’s encounters both ended 0-0 with the Rossoneri advancing after a penalty shootout and it seems this year might require something similar to separate them. 

“It was a step back in terms of quality from recent performances,” Milan boss Gennaro Gattuso told RAI Sport. “Unfortunately, we made a lot of mistakes in the final third and gave Piatek no service at all.”

9. Daniele De Rossi Bosses Roma

For large portions of their game with Frosinone, AS Roma struggled. The Canarini jumped out to a surprising lead, then pegged their visitors back to 2-2 with less than 10 minutes to go, Marco Baroni’s men giving a good account of themselves against a heavily fancied opponent.



With tempers flaring, the Giallorossi seemed ready to fight everyone (including each other, as Edin Dzeko and Daniele De Rossi repeatedly proved). The incident above was one of a number of petty spats between them, but they still helped Roma win when the Italian international’s pass was collected by Stephan El Shaarawy who then saw his cross bundled in by the Bosnian striker to clinch a late victory.

10. Roma Talk Stadium Boost

While results on the field have been fairly mixed for AS Roma this term, off the pitch they hope to take a major step forward now their new stadium has been given the go-ahead. That has proven to be a hugely positive injection, club owner James Pallotta, in particular, admitting how happy he is to see that project finally advance.

“Obviously the stadium delays have set us back by two or three years,” he said in a lengthy interview on the club’s official website. “We thought we’d be much, much closer to opening a stadium by now and that would help drive significantly more revenues to help us compete against the biggest clubs consistently.



“We can’t become a top-10 club without a stadium. We can have great years, like we did last year and have periods where we go deep in the Champions League and move forward, but if you want to be a top-10 club, and I’m not measuring it by revenues, I’m measuring it by everything — on the pitch, how we’re respected, qualitative issues, quantitative issues, how we do in media, how we do in social, all of those things… we need more money to compete and that is why I say the stadium is the game changer for us.

"If people think I’m more obsessed with the stadium than the team then they are simply not getting it – it’s because I’m obsessed with the team that I am so determined to deliver this stadium so we can have a team that can compete on something closer to a level playing field.”

Adam Digby is an Italian football writer for FourFourTwo, The Independent, and elsewhere. Author of "Juventus: A History In Black & White." Follow Adam on Twitter.