There was a flash point in the derby between Francesco Acerbi and Rafael Leao, and now what the defender said has emerged.
One of the many controversial moments from the Derby della Madonnina – which Milan won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Christian Pulisic – occurred in the first half between Acerbi and Leao.
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A ball was sent long and as the Portuguese forward attempted to win it, he went to the floor holding his hair. He then approached referee Simone Sozza to say that the Italian defender had pulled him down by his hair.
There was then a coming together between the pair, but Sozza seemed to be more strict with Leao, despite the video replays showing that he was very much telling the truth regarding what the former Lazio man had done.
Videos from DAZN’s BordoCam are now showing what Acerbi’s response was: “I didn’t do it on purpose. What are you pointing your finger at me for? Next time I’ll cut your finger off.”
Acerbi: “la prossima volta ti stacco il dito”
Il tutto successo sotto agli occhi dell’arbitro, ma niente neanche un’ammonizione.
Acerbi uomo di 💩 pic.twitter.com/QknHXyhVhO
— Peppe (@Peppe3112_) November 25, 2025
Yeah, I don’t think Acerbi ever hit anyone in his life. Talks too much. They should send Pavlovic to have a word with him, I’m sure Acerbi would tell him the same. 🤣🤣🤣
After Pav has a few words with him, the headline will be: Acerbi suffers freak finger fracture and apologizes to Leao.
He’d retire a week after that.
It is a figure of speech and a way of saying : “Keep your hands to yourself.”
Whether he did it on purpose or not, pulling a player down by his hair is a red card. Not sure why VAR fell asleep there.
Not justifying Acerbi but I’m thinking cuz it’s a derby they wanted the match equal and not handing a huge advantage to one team. There’s no way VAR would’ve claimed not to see the incident
I get that, but not making big calls for the sake of keeping it 11v11 is also an injustice. Acerbi could have gotten the red, as could have Chivu for interfering with Rabiot’s throw in.
yes, they obviously wanted the big game being open as long as possible, but (by far) they crossed the line between ‘not handing a huge advantage to one team’ and ‘handing a huge advantage to the trailing team’ – they gave them an extra player and a penalty.
Acerbi couldn’t keep pace. And this is what he resorted to… Jeez maybe next time Leao should wear a hair net like they use in kitchens around this clown.
Acerbi actually had a good game. Not sure what you’re on about.
He was average and typically had scores of six in the media. I was talking about this particular incident. Not sure why you can’t read. You seem to do more cheerleading of other teams on here.
Acerbi’s impact was overrated, Akanji was the best defender on the pitch imo. Bastoni had a quiet game and Akanji isn’t Italian which amplified Acerbi’s performance
Akanji is way worse than Acerbi and I dont like Acerbi but Akanji is not a top player and not Acerbi either but he is still better and more consistent than Akanji.
And? He was much better in the derby? Why do you respond to things nobody said?
He did ok, but worst of their 3 central defenders. Nobody really played bad in this game.
Wait, no one from Lega Serie A will react to this and punish Acerbi with at least 5 games on a bench so he can learn that there is no place aggressivenes, hair pulling and threatening to other players during the game??? Seriously???
It’s amazing how a player from one team can openly threaten physical violence (even it’s not am intended threat) and get away with it. Is this normal? What’s next? I will kill you. Authorities and the ref should be brought to task.