Juventus ended the first half at a disadvantage in Cagliari, after the goal that temporarily gave the home team a 1-0 advantage, scored by Daniel Maldini. It was a complicated match for the black and white attack, led by Kolo Muani, who has yet to make his mark. The Frenchman looked confused, almost dazed, and from time to time lost control of the ball. But that was not all. To make his game even more difficult was Yerry Mina.
The Colombian defender has been known for years for his unique way of dealing with opposing attackers, especially in matches against big teams. He targets them, provoking them in every way until he makes them lose their composure and react.
Mina had already started implementing this "tactic" in the first 45 minutes. In 2024, he had managed to drive Vlahovic crazy in the match against Juventus. This time, in addition to Kolo Muani, Douglas Luiz and Sarr were also targeted.
The former, perhaps frustrated by the Colombian's constant blows or words, after ending up on the ground in the area after a duel, reacted by elbowing him, an action that deserved a yellow card. But he reacted. Sarr, on the other hand, while trying to recover a ball that had gone out of bounds, found himself facing the Colombian, who celebrated demonstratively in front of his face. The midfielder pushed him and knocked him to the ground. In this case, however, Marcenaro did not fall into the defender's trap.
The referee went straight to Mina to reprimand him and warn him that he would be punished very quickly if he continued with that behavior. Mina seemed surprised by the referee's reaction, also because he was the one who had ended up on the ground after being pushed by his opponent. However, Marcenaro showed good personality and knowledge of the player. He made it clear that he knew very well what he was doing on the field.
That is, at least, as long as the reactions of the Juventus players did not become much more serious than a simple push or an elbow by Douglas Luiz, who should have been punished with a yellow card anyway. Even the Juventus bench, however, had warned the referee.
From the start of the match, Spalletti had repeatedly shouted for the players to keep an eye on defender Mina, who, according to him, had started provoking the black and white players from the first minutes. Mina had been the protagonist of similar episodes last season against Como, in the case that involved the reaction of the Spaniard Morata, as well as on many other occasions during his time at Cagliari.
