Daniele Orsato and Paolo Valeri have been appointed for Napoli vs. Milan on Sunday, but many Partenopei fans on social media remember that those two referees already cost them the Serie A title once.
Napoli host Milan at the Stadio Maradona on Sunday night. Both teams are on top of the Serie A table with a two-point lead over Inter, although the Nerazzurri have a game in hand.
AIA has appointed Orsato as the referee for the match, while Valeri will be in charge of VAR. The decision has left many Napoli fans not impressed as Valeri and Orsato were also in charge of a controversial Inter-Juventus in 2018.
The Bianconeri sealed a 3-2 win, scoring two late goals at San Siro and climbing to the top of the table. Napoli lost 3-0 in Florence the following day with Maurizio Sarri saying that the Parteopei had ‘lost the game at their hotel’ the previous night.
Inter-Juventus ended in controversy as Miralem Pjanic was not shown a second yellow card after an aerial duel with Rafinha. Napoli fans still see it as one of the reasons why they didn’t win the title in 2017-18 and have not forgotten that night. VAR couldn’t intervene as the foul was not worth a straight red card. A few years later, Orsato admitted his mistake.
“It was a mistake. I was close to it, and I didn’t notice what I saw on TV. For me, it was a typical aerial challenge. VAR couldn’t intervene,” the international referee said in February 2021.
“VAR is helpful. When referees go on the pitch, we don’t think about VAR. We try to do our best, and if we make mistakes, we are lucky because we can rely on VAR.”