Adrien Rabiot was furious after a penalty appeal was not even evaluated by the VAR in the Europa League semi-final with Sevilla, as the Juventus midfielder was eager to show everyone the damage. ‘It was a clear penalty.’
The incident occurred at the Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin when Sevilla were still leading 1-0 from a Youssef En-Nasyri counter-attack.
Rabiot went to volley the cross when he got there before Loic Badé, who caught his fellow Frenchman square on the shin, and was already on a yellow card.
The referee waved play on and the VAR did not even send out the usual alert to confirm they were checking the footage, even while Rabiot received treatment.
After the game, he was eager to show off the damage, walking around in shorts with his socks rolled down.
“It was a nasty foul, in my view a clear penalty, but VAR didn’t say anything. You can see clearly, he doesn’t get the ball, he gets my leg. I showed the referee my leg, but he didn’t react and I don’t know why the VAR didn’t call him back,” Rabiot told Sky Sport Italia.
Federico Gatti scored the equaliser from a corner with practically the last kick of the game to make it 1-1 going into the second leg.
“That’s the Juventus motto, Fino Alla Fine, to the end, and we proved it tonight. We tried to push to the very end and the goal gives us hope for the second leg.
“We work on set plays a lot in training and hope to occupy the penalty area. It is an extra weapon for us, we’ve got some players who are good in the air and need to make the most of that.”
The second leg will be next Thursday in Seville and the away goals rule does not apply, so it’s winner takes all.
“We need to be more attentive for their counter-attacks, as they always left two or three players forward and that allowed them to get away quickly. We need to be more compact and also be less hasty in our passing.
“I would like to reach the Final and bring this trophy back to Turin for the fans, the coach and the club.”