Arkadiusz Milik sparked bedlam in Turin. But then the real chaos began

Arkadiusz Milik knew the punishment but still committed the crime, ripping off his shirt and throwing it in the air as he barrelled toward Juventus’s supporters behind the goal. They came tumbling down the stand towards him, delirious and disbelieving. In the 91st minute, their team had trailed 2-1 at home to Salernitana. Now, in the 95th, Milik had scored to put them 3-2 ahead.

A comeback worth getting sent off for. Milik had been shown a yellow card 10 minutes earlier, so his celebration would earn him a red. Even after the referee, Matteo Marcenaro, showed it to him, the striker continued to high five teammates on his way towards the tunnel.

Salernitana might not be glamorous opponents – a team who spent most of last season in the relegation zone – but Juventus needed this. They had collected only two wins from their first five Serie A matches, before being beaten by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. This was supposed to be the season when they returned to the forefront of Italian football. Massimiliano Allegri said in July that his team had a “duty” to win the Scudetto.

Milik’s goal felt like a turning point, Juventus recovering from two goals down, rediscovering the trait that used to define them: the ability to just win when they did not deserve to. And then, it was taken away from them by a VAR review.

Marcenaro was sent to the monitor and shown footage of Leonardo Bonucci behind the Salernitana defence as Milik headed across goal from a corner. The Juventus player had tried, unsuccessfully, to get a touch. In Marcenaro’s interpretation, Bonucci was interfering with play. There is a discussion to be had on this, given the ball already appeared to be beyond the reach of goalkeeper Luigi Sepe. Less