There was a bizarre moment during Atalanta’s Europa League match against Sporting CP, as the wrong substitution was made by mistake.
La Dea were 1-1 at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo when the board went up, calling off Teun Koopmeiners to be replaced by Aleksei Miranchuk.
Coach Gian Piero Gasperini and his staff seemed confused and went to the fourth official to request clarification.
According to Sky Sport Italia, the plan had been to replace defender Giorgio Scalvini with Miranchuk and not Koopmeiners.
However, by the time the error had been spotted, Miranchuk had already set foot on the pitch and the referee could therefore not revoke the substitution.
It caused some angry debate on the touchline between Gasperini and his assistant, while the fourth official showed the piece of paper he had been given with the Number 7 on it for Koopmeiners.
Scalvini wears the Number 42 jersey, so it cannot have been a simple handwriting issue.