Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci took to social media to apologise to fans following his red card in the Azzurri’s game with Spain.

The Juventus veteran was given two yellow cards in the first half of the Nations League semifinal between Italy and Spain.

Bonucci received the first yellow card for dissent and the second one for jumping with elbow raised on Sergio Busquets.

Spain scored twice in the first half and Lorenzo Pellegrini’s strike in the final minutes of the second half was not enough for the Azzurri to reach a place in the Final and stretch their unbeaten run beyond 37 matches.

“I’m angrier than you, first of all with myself,” Bonucci wrote on Instagram.

“I’m sorry and I apologise. But this Italy will rise and be stronger than ever.”

The Azzurri will now face either France or Belgium in the third-place Final on Sunday at the Allianz Stadium.

Les Blues and the Red Devils meet in Turin tonight at 19.45 UK time.

Before last night, Italy had lost their last game in a Nations League group stage game against Portugal in September 2018.

Roberto Mancini has won 31 of his 43 games in charge of La Nazionale.

 

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Un post condiviso da Leonardo Bonucci (@bonuccileo19)

11 thought on “Bonucci apologises for red card”
  1. That’s why he should never wear the captain’s armband. He’s like a jeckyll and hyde chracter – sometimes excellent, sometimes an insufferable fool. Chiellini showed what a true captain’s about when he came on for the second half. had he started, Spain would not have scored those goals – they were both due to poor marking.

  2. @ Frankie
    Spot on Frankie about Bonucci. I think we needed that loss against a top side in Spain. It will bring us back in line a bit and I hope that it can be the catalyst for the next few Qatar 2022 qualifying games to perform at a high level again.

  3. As a die-hard Azzurri Supporter .. unhappy of course with the loss and how the match panned out but happy ….

    1) that the loss and great unbeaten streak came to an end against a top class team like Spain.
    2) for lots of lessons learnt for Mancini and the players going forward .. which will only help in the growth process … also with the crucial last round of WC Qualifiers coming up next month!
    3) for the fighting spirit shown by the team after a man down and 2 goals down against a top team. Any other team would have got deflated and lost by a big margin. Still managed to get 5 shots on target!!
    Forza Azzurri Sempre 🇮🇹👊💙

  4. Bonucci is marmite in the football world. When he’s on his game you would consider him one of the best defenders in football today – playing out from the back, great vision, composure – but if he’s not on his game he just seems like an inexperienced reserve player. Like Frankie said he’s inconsistent with which part of him turns up to play.

  5. Absolutely right Roy. This will do us well in sense of refs which we do get quite a few bad ones and the fact that every team that will play us will want to beat us so this means we have to play always at high tempo and high standard. Bonucci did deserve the second card but not the first. I was able to lip read in which he said “Why? Barella did not foul the Spanish lad as he actually slipped. Bonucci did not touch the ref and as captain he did have the right to state his opinion and asked the refs decision. Anyway, we unfortunately lost the game but it will bring us back up again. On a good note, WOW WHAT A PLAYER FEDERICO CHIESA IS. In Italy we call those players FUORI CLASSE and sorry England does not have one.

  6. Everyone hates on Bonucci when it’s convenient to make him the scape-goat. He was fantastic in the Euro and big reason why Italy won the tournament. The truth is that this referee was the classic referee that makes decisions based on a need to assert his dominance and show the players who is boss. A yellow card for dissent and then a second yellow for going up for a header? That is insane. The reason Bonucci’s elbow hits Busquets is because Busquets blindly jumps backwards with no elevation resulting in Bonucci’s elbows being at the same height as Busquets’ head. It’s completely unintentional. A foul? Ok, fine. A 1st yellow? Maybe. A second yellow when the first was also soft?? Come on!!! The ref effectively ended the game at that moment and that is unacceptable. I also disagree with anyone who says a yellow is a yellow no matter when and where. You must use discretion and common sense to make these decisions.

  7. Bonucci was the best player at the Euro. He defended perfectly, scored the goal, and was money during the penalties. Yet all these people making these comments in English? I’m wondering if “it’s coming to Rome” bothered some people? Or perhaps when he shutdown Lukaku for Chelsea? Who knows

  8. @ Stefano

    Dude you’re also writing in English. It’s an English language web-site.

    Bonucci was a rock at the Euros playing next to Chiellini, no one is denying that. But he acted like a clown last night, looking at Busquets and then lunging at him with a raised arm, when he was supposed to be the captain. He’s average without Chiellini, even playing for Juventus.

  9. @John…

    1. We are correct. The 1st yellow on Bonucci for dissent was a joke. I wrote this numerous times yesterday.

    2. Playing a 3-5-2 seems to work well for Italia when playing Spain.

    3. Moise Kean as a central striker.

  10. No need to apologise for poor refereeing. Bonucci and Chiellini make me proud to be an Italian supporter.

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