Mario Balotelli's penalty drama with Eto'o sparked brilliant Zanetti reaction in 2009

Mario Balotelli could be quite the handful at times during his spell with Inter Milan.

Take this iconic story from Jose Mourinho, for example: “We went to Kazan in the Champions League. In that match all my strikers were injured. No Milito, no Eto’o, I was really in trouble and Mario was the only one.

“Mario gets a yellow card in minute 42, 43. So when I go to the dressing room at half-time, I spend 14 minutes of the 15 speaking only for Mario.

“Mario I cannot change you. I cannot make a change. I don’t have a striker on the bench. Don’t touch anybody. Play only with the ball. When we lose the ball, no reaction. If somebody provokes you, no reaction. If the referee makes a mistake, no reaction. Mario, please.

“Minute 46, red card!”

However, one amusingly dramatic moment that punctuated Balotelli’s time at the San Siro is a lot less known, but nevertheless just as funny to look back on all these years later.

Besides, while ‘Super Mario’ never did go on to reach the dizzying heights once tipped for him, the general consensus does seem to be that he’s thawed a little bit with age.

So we can cast our minds back to the treble-winning 2009/10 season with our nostalgia glasses firmly on, recalling what proved to be a chaotic Serie A clash with Palermo on October 29.

Mourinho’s men eventually won 5-3 at the San Siro to maintain their stranglehold over top spot with both Balotelli and Samuel Eto’o scoring a brace, while Diego Milito also found the back of the net.

However, had Balotelli been allowed to have his own way during the opening 10 minutes of the game, then he could well have been leaving with the match ball for having scored a hat-trick.

That’s because the Italian striker was involved in one of the most pantomime-like