Bologna-Juve: controversy and penalties not awarded, the anger of Saputo and the fans

The icy handshake of Saputo at the end of the match. Italiano's "I didn't see the penalty episode". The diplomatic silence of the club. But above all the anger of the thirty thousand of the From the Ara, which in the first half, in the Rossinian crescendo 'Penalty on Freuler not awarded/ yellow for Cambiaso who remained in the pocket / Savona's hands beautifully ignored', has taken on the characteristics of a paroxysmal excess. Where is the news? It simply isn't there, since it is a Bologna-Juve.

Without bothering the ghosts of Zambrotta and Krasic's dives in the rossoblù area, of the free kick that Pieri gifted to Nedved in the calciopoli year or, a wound closer in time, of the penalty denied by Di Bello when two years ago Iling-Junior mowed down Ndoye two metres from the goal at the Stadium, the fact remains (and fate, never on the side of the rossoblù) that at these latitudes the challenges with the Old Lady often leave that bitter aftertaste of something stolen that has never been returned.

The episode that continues to steal the scene is the more than suspicious crossing of legs in the Juventus area, half an hour into the first half, between Graze and McKennie, who Duties downgraded to a normal clash of play by clipping the wings of the VAR with that "I saw it" repeated several times in the face of the rossoblù captain De Silvestri. Seen well? We seriously doubt it. Even if the debate remains open and on the matter the same video reviewers have given birth to conflicting opinions. Three minutes later even the yellow missed by Cambiaso for having unceremoniously knocked down Orsolini had the characteristics of a suspicious generosity towards the bianconero full-back.

Even if the episode that still cries out for vengeance the next day is the unpunished hand-touching with which all in the province of Savona in the 37th minute he stopped the incursion of the same Orso who, having jumped the last bastion, was heading straight for the goal. Could that touch that the whole Dall'Ara saw not have been seen by the referee, or his assistant, from the field? It is that missed whistle by Doveri that most annoyed the rossoblù management, starting with Saputo, cold in his gentlemanly aplomb when at the end of the match he waited for all the protagonists of the challenge in front of the tunnel and when Doveri passed by he gave him a handshake at least as cold, accompanied by a gesture of the arm that smacked of the desire for an abrupt farewell. Doveri's direction was certainly not in line with the value, almost always high, of his previous outings this season. He says: if a team fails, even a referee can mess up the performance. It's a shame that it happens often, and always in the same direction, in a Bologna-Juve. That Italiano and the club chose to keep their mouths shut at the end of the match is in keeping with the line that Saputo's Bologna has always followed: low profile and public complaints sparingly, and in any case only in the face of proven injustices. Whether it's a line that pays off, on the eve of a Coppa Italia final in which Bologna is playing for a good slice of history, we'll only find out by living.