Serie A Controversy: Flawed Milan Join Napoli and Roma in Attacking Juventus

Milan’s trip to Juventus Stadium on Saturday evening saw two of Italian football’s truly great clubs on show, a game seen across the world as perhaps the biggest fixture on the peninsula. Over 90 minutes, the home side expressed their superiority on the field, dispatching the struggling Rossoneri with consummate ease.

The 3-1 final score fell somewhat short of highlighting the gulf between the sides, given that 24 points now separate them in the Serie A standings. While praising the effort his players gave on the night, Pippo Inzaghi admitted to Sky Italia that it is “tough to play on a par with Juve” (h/t Football Italia).

Massimo Pinca/Associated Press

During that same interview, the Milan coach was shown a replay of the game’s opening goal and asked if he believed Carlos Tevez was offside, a question that the station had debated at length during and after the game.

No stranger to the flag of an assistant referee during his own playing days, Inzaghi answered the reporter honestly as he saw the position of the Argentinian. “From the bench I honestly would’ve given that as offside,” he replied. “He looked a metre in front from there, but seeing it again...”

It was a rare admission from an opponent, and one which appeared to close the matter, only for AC Milan to launch a scathing attack the following day. First came an interview with vice president Adriano Galliani in La Corriere della Sera, accusing the Bianconeri of manipulating what was shown (h/t Football Italia):

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Unlike the other Serie A clubs, Juve produce and control the television images from their games at the Stadium. They make a very clear decision not to show the replay of the move that leads to the first goal.

I will kick up a hornet’s nest in the next Lega Serie A meeting to ensure the Lega can produce all the games, without allowing a club to control its own images. I contest the fact Juve are allowed to show only what they want to show.

"

That was followed by a tweet from the Rossoneri’s official Twitter account that showed the position of Tevez as Alvaro Morata passed the ball and asked, “In your view are the lines produced by Juventus on this replay parallel? We don’t think so.”

In addition, a brief statement was published by the official Milan website, continuing Galliani’s insistence that the Bianconeri should not be allowed to control what is shown on television:

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AC Milan have no intention in creating controversy, but are simply making a clear and precise request. In this moment, the 10 Serie A matches are produced by 6 TV crews from Sky, 3 Mediaset and 1 independent.

Starting from next season, AC Milan asks that TV crews are all independent and not from broadcasters that purchase the rights to Serie A.

"

Juventus clearly debated and deliberated over their response, but after some time passed, a reply was posted on their own website. It started on a somewhat sarcastic note, discussing Galliani’s decision “to revisit two of his old passions: television and geometry.”

From there the Bianconeri statement was clear, believing that the comments were merely an attempt “to create a farcical scandal in the media in a clumsy attempt to distract Milan fans from the clear-cut result in yesterday’s match: 3-1.”

It then went into detail over how Serie A is televised, pointing out the impartiality of television broadcasts of games, stating that of course this happens “with no interference from other parties.”

While it may appear to be somewhat petty, it was a necessary reply given the barrage of insults and accusations made by Milan, with Juventus management clearly believing they needed to be seen defending themselves.

Of course the matter did not end there, with Milan seemingly desperate to have the final word on the matter, issuing yet another statement on their official website:

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Arrogance is a Juventus trait and something that they cannot escape from. It would be superfluous to respond to anyone like this.

It is a good thing however that even they agree to open up the discussion and debate over the production of TV graphics which emerged following the episode during Juventus-Milan last night.

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That the Rossoneri directors perceive their counterparts in Turin as arrogant is somewhat laughable considering the manner in which the reigning champions won on the pitch. The bitter spat was completely unnecessary given both the result of the game and the admission from Inzaghi that the goal was valid, but this is unlikely to be the end of the matter.

Sadly for Juventus, this is not the first time this season that an opponent has made public accusations and insults against the club, a fact which goes some way to explaining why the Old Lady responded so forcefully here.

It began in October, when Massimiliano Allegri’s men won a controversial encounter with Roma in which there were three debatable penalty decisions. Giallorossi coach Rudi Garcia was sent off after the first, the referee deeming his imaginary playing of a violin enough to show him a red card.

He was not finished, however, insisting to Sky Italia (h/t ESPN FC) after the game that “by hook or by crook” Juventus always win. He has continued that theme ever since, saying in December “It's true Juventus are ahead by three points and we all know how," per Jacopo Lo Monaco of Reuters UK.

It has been a diversionary tactic, however, one which the Roma coach has perhaps used too often, as his side’s title challenge has been somewhat derailed. Now sitting seven points behind Juventus, Roma would need a remarkable effort to overcome that gap. They would certainly need to stop making excuses for their poor form.

Sunday’s win over Cagliari was their first in five matches, a slump that has caused genuine concern in the Italian capital. Aside from Garcia and Roma, Rafael Benitez has also joined the chorus of attacks on Juventus, discussing at length how he has learned the phrase “ci puo stare” since landing in the peninsula.

Literally meaning “it can happen,” the phrase could also be used to say “I’ve seen them given,” and Benitez has often referred to it over the past few months. Speaking after Napoli were beaten 3-1 by Juventus, he told reporters (h/t Football Italia):

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From last year I learned the phrase ‘it can happen’—it’s always like that against Juventus. We were in the game on 1-1, but the offside goal changed everything and we had to chase again.

We give credit to Juventus because they have quality and hard work, which is why they’ve been winning for three years and will win again.

"

The fact that the Spanish coach admitted that the quality and effort was the reason the Bianconeri are successful should be enough, but in Italy that is never the case. It is much easier to make lazy insinuations and accusations, playing to the gallery rather than looking inward and correcting flaws.

Both Napoli and Roma are superb sides, each fully capable of launching a genuine title challenge and beating the Bianconeri to the championship. Yet sadly they—along with Milan—seem content to find excuses and apportion blame rather than accept that mistakes have been made.

It is reductive to infer that the officials—and now even the television companies—favour Juventus, while decisions such as Palermo’s disallowed goal against Sampdoria go largely without debate. When it comes to La Madama, Italian football lives to be outraged, to find reasons to blame Juventus rather than simply admit defeat.

The game with Roma was closely contested, perhaps making Garcia’s comments at the time somewhat acceptable. Yet three months later, he is still hiding behind it, just as Benitez and now Galliani have done, despite their losses to Juve being so utterly comprehensive.

Bad decisions have been made, not just by match officials but by those in charge of Italy’s biggest clubs. Addressing those should be far more pertinent than finding the latest way to somehow blame Juventus for their problems.

It is not about polemic reactions or excuses concerning geometry. It is football, and none of those clubs can deny Juventus have simply been better where it matters most: on the pitch.