Juventus 1, Milan 0: Vergogna

With everyone dissecting Banti’s calls with a microscope, or at least the ones that went against Milan, they seem to have forgotten the bigger shame: Serie A. The president of Serie A, Micciché, was patting himself on the back after the game for a successful event. He was bragging about forcing our two teams to play in a country devoid of human rights. Boasting about championing women’s rights because women were allowed to sit in the third tier of the stadium only, as if they were third class citizens. This is how he thinks he is successful, but he ought to be ashamed of himself. I know I’m ashamed. Vergogna.

Yeah, feels kinda like that

The game itself wasn’t so super, either. There were only four shots on target total, between both teams, with Milan only getting the one. And that stat tells you that the refereeing was not the deciding factor, even though most Milan fans will tell you it was. Milan put up a decent fight, and the result burns a little. But more because we will be missing three players to suspension for our match vs. Genoa on Monday.

That lack of discipline that Gattuso demonstrated throughout his playing career is being emulated by his players now on the pitch. Kessie’s red card stung. It was fair, but if it was worthy of a VAR review and a red, then why not Matuidi’s stamp on Calabria? Inconsistencies happen all the time, but the inconsistency in the application of VAR seems the least fair. Calabria will sit due to card accumulation. I hope Gattuso thinks Conti is ready to start, because I love Abate, but we need something more.

His VAR review red card felt a little like a sucker punch, even if it was fair

The worst miss will be Romagnoli. He will likely get slapped with a nice fine, too, because his yellow was for dissent. Again. And the league frowns deeply upon captains who get carded for dissent. His postmatch comments were spot on. He said that they continuously ask for explanations from the refs, but none are ever given. He’s right, the referees are only accountable amongst themselves. There are sometimes suspensions given to the refs, but overall, they are never accountable to the players or coaches. Which doesn’t help the game at all. Poor Romagnoli is literally going to pay for that, it’s a shame.

Milan fans need to remember that Juventus actually scored three goals. But two were called back for offside. So there is no ref conspiracy here, no sim cards, no refs on the payroll. There were calls that went against Juventus, too. And they got yellow cards, as well. But Milan couldn’t score and Juventus did. That is the difference. And the one that stood was in the 61st, a Ronaldo goal, of course. 1-0 Juve. That wasn’t the highlight, though. The highlight was when Bonucci was falling out of bounds and going to bump into Gattuso, but gave him a giant hug instead. That brought the humanity back into the game and reminded everyone that no matter what colors you wear or who pays your checks, we are all human beings with relationships that extend beyond the pitch.

It's hard not to wonder if he should even be playing at all...

The opposite of that humanity, creepy Juve fans online are harassing potential witnesses who might testify against Ronaldo and finding supposed loopholes and bragging about how he’ll never go to jail. So disgusting. I feel creeped out that Ronaldo is even still playing football and scoring goals while an investigation against him for rape continues to build. I mean his accuser’s life was turned upside down by the events of that night, whatever they were. And as with most rape victims, even a victory in court will likely see her never have a normal life again. But he’s doing what he wants, playing at a club that is as devoid of morals as he is. And I guess that just makes me feel violated, too. Vergogna.

So Juve won, whatever. It's not the Champions League, they don't care. It’s so boring, their fans don’t even bother to celebrate anymore, they just rush to enforce their indecencies on opposition fans on social media. Maybe when you win so often, you forget to savor the moment, to watch the trophy presentation, and enjoy the happiness of your players. I wouldn’t know, I’m a Milan fan. And even when we won a lot, I celebrated. But that was a long time ago. Such a shame.

Talk about human rights issues... those children were forced to wear Juve kits.

But everyone else lost in this game: human rights, women, Serie A fans, TV rights, as well as other, more worthy locations the game could have been played. The issues people have with the refs can be sorted out, there was nothing that blatant or horrible. But people will always remember that Micciché and Serie A sold us all out. Choosing the payoff ahead of the backlash. Putting our teams into a terrible situation and pushing Serie A back another giant step backwards, while claiming to have helped make progress. All of the controversy was avoidable, but instead of doing the right thing, Micciché is patting himself on the back. So disgusting. Milan lost the game, but Serie A lost all respect. Vergogna.

This post inspired by the music of Elle King’s “Shame”

Our next match is

Serie A Week 20

Genoa vs Milan

Monday, January 21 • 15:00 CET (9am EST)