Ex-Inter Milan star believes Juventus suffered injustice: “Anyone who played football knows” | OneFootball

Former Inter defender Lele Adani insists that Hellas Verona were awarded a non-existent penalty kick against Juventus.

The Bianconeri were livid with the performance of match official Antonio Rapuano who was in charge of Saturday’s Serie A contest.

The two sides ended up sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw, but the Turin-based giants felt hard done by the referee.

Juventus suffered injustice in Verona

As pointed out by former Italian referee Luca Marelli, Rapuano committed two major mistakes that impeded Juventus. First, he awarded Verona a spot-kick for a handball on Joao Mario, and then, he failed to send off Gift Orban, who deliberately elbowed Federico Gatti in the face.

The Italian refereeing association have decided to take action by demoting Rapuano to Serie B, although this would do little to remunerate the Old Lady who dropped two valuable points on the road.

But while some of Juve’s rivals tried to belittle the episode, Adani, despite his past at Inter and Fiorentina, sided with the Bianconeri on this one, as he struggled to wrap his head around the referee’s decision to award a spot-kick for Verona after the on-field review.

Lele Adani

Lele Adani insists Joao Mario’s handball shouldn’t constitute a penalty-kick

The 51-year-old explained that Joao Mario never had the intention to handle the ball, but he was unable to avoid it since he was in mid-air with his eyes closed.

“Anyone who played football understands that it’s not a handball but a missed header,” argued Adani during his appearance on La Domenica Sportiva (via JuventusNews24).

“Anyone who has played football knows that you can jump over the edge because someone pushes you, because you’re afraid of contact from behind, or because you’re off balance.

“So if you’re trying to head the ball and, within the dynamics of your body balance, prepare to do so, but you miss the ball, it can hit your arm. That doesn’t mean you gave away a penalty,” concluded Adani.