Luis Alberto refused to salute Maurizio Sarri and threw his shinpads in a rage at being substituted, but the Lazio coach made a joke out of it.
The Biancocelesti have every reason to be happy, as with this afternoon’s 2-0 victory away to Monza, they went five points clear of Inter in second place in the Serie A standings.
However, there was some tension when Luis Alberto was substituted and made no secret of his disapproval.
The Spaniard refused to salute Sarri, walking straight past his coach to the bench shaking his head and then throwing his shinpads in frustration.
Lazio fans will recognise this is hardly new behaviour for Luis Alberto, who often vents his fury at any substitution, whether it is with Sarri or predecessor Simone Inzaghi.
When the coach was asked about the incident in his press conference afterwards, Sarri tried to make a joke out of it.
“Ah let him go… He gets angry even if you substitute him at the 93rd minute when you’re leading 5-0. The positive sign is the way he interprets matches now, as in my view his first 45 minutes today were extraordinary.
“I took him off because the team was defending deeper and needed more physicality.”