Roberto Mancini is disappointed with the behavior of part of the public on Tuesday evening in the lost Nations League match with Spain (1-2). AC Milan supporters attended the match at the San Siro in large numbers and booed Gianluigi Donnarumma throughout the match. The fans have still not forgiven the 22-year-old goalkeeper for his transfer-free move from AC Milan to Paris Saint-Germain.
“It upset us because it was a national team game, not a club game,” said Mancini. “Those fans could have put their grievances aside for one game. If Italy plays, that’s above all else, right?” A day before the match in the home of AC Milan, the hard core of the club had already shown a banner that read that Donnarumma is no longer welcome in Milan as far as they are concerned. A similar banner could be seen outside the stadium on Wednesday.
“Maybe the fans could have saved this for a clash between PSG and AC Milan? Of course this was disappointing for us”, emphasized the national coach of the European champion after the defeat. “Italy must be above everything else. This was not a club game. Of course Donnarumma didn’t like this, none of us. But Gigio handled it well.”
Mancini knew that sooner or later the Italian team’s unbeaten run of 37 games would come to an end, but the way his side lost to Spain hurt. “Of course we should have finished the game with eleven men”, he referred to the red card of Leonardo Bonucci, who received his second yellow card just before half time for an elbow strike. “There was a mistake that you shouldn’t make at this level. The incident had a major impact on the course of the race.”
Spain will face France or Belgium in the final on Sunday. Those countries will face each other in Turin on Thursday. Kick-off is at 8.45pm. The Spaniards mainly owed the victory to Ferran Torres, who already scored both goals before half time. Despite the undercount situation, Italy still managed to make a connection goal via Lorenzo Pellegrini in the final phase.
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