Rabiot hits out at refereeing after Marcandalli incident: “Constantly lying won’t achieve progress”

By: Oliver Fisher

Adrien Rabiot has had his say on the incident that happened during AC Milan’s win over Genoa, in which he was brought down through on goal.

The controversial moment everyone is talking about came early in the second half. Rabiot pressured Marcandalli and stole the ball off him and he was about to surge into Genoa’s half, with only Alphadjo Cisse to his left for company in a two-on-zero breakaway.

Marcandalli hauled him down, yet the referee Davide Massa only saw fit to award a yellow card, and the VAR chief did not deem it necessary to call him over to the monitor for another look. Milan won anyway in the end, but it would have been a totally different game had that been given.

Former referee Gianpaolo Calvarese commented on the incident on his Instagram page and he described Marcandalli’s yellow card as a ‘fair’ decision, which prompted Rabiot to respond in the comments.

“In life, as in football, you can make mistakes. You have to at least be able to admit them. Constantly lying won’t achieve progress, and Italian football is the one that suffers the consequences. Think about it. Bonne soirée,” the Frenchman said.

The relationship between Rabiot and Italian referees has always been characterised by a direct, unfiltered approach. The former PSG man has never been one to hide when he feels he’s suffered an injustice.

He demonstrated this during his time at Juventus. In April 2022, after the defeat against Inter he wrote on Instagram: “It’s difficult to play with 11 against 12.” A year later, in Juventus-Sevilla, he protested again over a denied penalty, even showing the media the marks left by the studs on his leg.

Rabiot brought this to Milan too. After the match against Atalanta on October 18th, for example, he questioned the awarding of bookings, complaining about several uncalled fouls, leading to his famous celebration in front of Chiffi when he scored the 2-0 goal.