Yesterday, an overzealous maneuver from Arkardiusz Milik proved costly for Juventus who dropped two points at home against Empoli.
The striker went lunging into Alberto Cerri while trying to win back possession for his side.
The referee initially showed him a yellow card, but the VAR invited him to review the action. After noticing that the player’s studs were high, Livio Marinelli upgraded the sanction to a direct dismissal.
A visibly devastated Milik headed to the locker room to watch his team settle for a disappointing draw against the struggling Tuscans.
Dusan Vlahovic opened the scoring early in the first half but the young Tomasso Baldanzi made the most out of his second-half cameo, securing a point for his side with a clever finish.
But despite his costly blunder, Tuttosport (via JuventusNews24) reveals that Milik only found support in the Juventus locker room which remains as solid and united as ever.
His teammates noted that such missteps ought to occur, and it could have happened to anyone else. So luckily for the Pole, no one lashed out against him or berated him for his howler, at least based on this account.
Moreover, Milik’s compatriot Wojciech Szczesny went on to defend him in his post-match interviews, citing similar incidents that ensued against Juventus but went unpunished (namely the challenges from Domenico Berardi and Ruslan Malinovskyi).
For his part, the 29-year-old striker apologized to his teammates as well as the Juventus supporters in an Instagram post.
