Italian sports papers comment on Marco Serra’s errors in Milan vs. Spezia using exactly the same headline and saying the referee’s performance was ‘inadequate’ due to multiple mistakes.
The 39-year-old cancelled out a Junior Messias goal in minute 92, just before Spezia’s eventual winner at San Siro.
Milan coach Stefano Pioli said his players and the match official share the blame for the Rossoneri’s loss, although both AIA chiefs and Serra apologised to the Rossoneri after the match.
Italian sports papers are clearly quite harsh on the referee who was rated 3/10 by Gazzetta and Tuttosport and 4 by Il Corriere dello Sport.
Ironically, the three main sports papers in the country use the same headline: ‘Effetto Serra’, which literally translates into ‘greenhouse effect,’ to highlight how the refereeing was quite poor and, to some extent, even toxic.
Serra’s final mistake wasn’t the only one of the night even if La Gazzetta dello Sport tried to justify the 39-year-old, saying that he was unlucky as Messias found the back of the net with a magnificent curler after the referee had blown his whistle.
Italian media also highlight how 39-year-old didn’t notice a penalty kick for Milan which he awarded after a VAR check. His use of yellow cards was also debatable and Tuttosport said Serra proved to be ‘inadequate.’
Serie A has become laughable. No words describe how bad and damaging that refereeing performance was. I also have to comment on the scheduling too. Why were both Milan and Napoli playing at 17.30 on Monday evening? Yet they put Fiorentina v Genoa on in the 19:45 slot.
Don’t complaining they win .. ..
I don’t watch premier league as often as Serie A but from what I’ve seen the referring is much better in there. And I don’t mean outrageous blunders like these but the controlling the flow of the game in general. Sometimes little incidents over the course of a match turns the tide of the game. Italian referees tend to whistle when they shouldn’t, then let go of a lot when they also should not and lose control. It’s like they can’t read matches.
But then again Italian refs have a good reputation in international tournaments so maybe it’s a problem with the culture of football in Italy that puts too much pressure on them.
I think they are better in Italy in general. England is catching up but I have never seen a mistake like that before in either country. Pioli was very magnanimous, I couldn’t say I would be the same. A huge mistake that should never happen.
Why does VAR not get involved there? Its plain as day what has happened and that the ref messed up, why not stop the play and check?
Milan were increadibly unfortunate, def deserved to get points from that game, but I also can’t help feeling for the ref. In similar situations when they play the advantage they are often critisized because 9 of 10 times nothing comes of it and also when they give the free kick they are again blamed, what are they to do…
Milan should let go of the ref and blame themselves for not beating Spezia. They let in two goals. Inexcusable.