AC Milan failed to claim all three points against Udinese earlier this evening and while it was mostly their fault, the referees seemingly missed a clear handball on the away side’s goal. This is what Paolo Maldini highlighted afterwards.
In addition to former referee Luca Marelli and Stefano Pioli, Milan’s technical director Paolo Maldini expressed his disappointment after the draw. Just like the manager, he stated that the Rossoneri could have done better but also highlighted the referee’s mistake.
On the refereeing…
“I want to start with our performance. We are not perfect, just as the others as we’re still first. Our defects came out, we weren’t brilliant. Both today and in Salerno we took the lead, which is the hardest thing, but then we got pulled apart,” he began as he spoke to MilanTV (via MilanNews).
“VAR should remove the doubts, used this way it hurts because this isn’t the first time [for us]. It’s an obvious mistake, whoever decides must understand football. And I say another thing: Milan are in first place and cannot always have a rookie referee at San Siro. It’s not easy to referee at San Siro. Unfortunately, the referee made some mistakes.”
On the situation…
“The mentality commands the whole body, but the brilliance is not just a question of the mentality. The same speech I did for the referee I can do for the players who for the first time are fighting to win something. With experience, you learn to manage these things.”
On the next games…
“I hope it’s true that playing against the big teams makes it easier. We will prepare ourselves as best we can, we will play our best to try to win a title,” he concluded.
Maldini is, of course, referring to the game against Spezia during which Marco Serra was in charge. The inexperienced referee (in Serie A) failed to award Milan an advantage which cost them a goal, as Junior Messias scored less than a second after he blew for a foul.
With that in mind, it’s clear that Milan are very frustrated with the situation and you can understand their anger. Being the leaders of the standings (prior to Udinese), it is indeed strange that such an inexperienced referee got the game.
READ MORE: Pioli says referees missed ‘a clear handball’ but admits Milan didn’t do enough vs. Udinese