There were thirty seconds left, yet Milan-Lazio continued for almost ten more minutes. At 94'30", Nuno Tavares sent a desperate cross into the box. Romagnoli reached it first, his foot appearing behind a cluster of five players, just meters from Maignan’s goal. In front of him were Pavlovic and Marusic, locked in an embrace that forced them both to face away from the ball. Romagnoli’s shot hit Pavlovic’s elbow and went out for a goal kick.
How did Milan - Lazio Turn into Pure Theater?
And here a normal football match slipped into something else. What exactly? Theater? Cinema? And above all, was it better or worse than the football played in the previous 94 minutes? Well, you can be the judge of that.
Referee Giuseppe Collu signals a goal kick, then a corner, then stops play while Zaccagni was already adjusting his socks near the corner flag. Lazio players start approaching him. Guendouzi raises his hands, touches his wrist to indicate a handball, then hunches with hands joined in prayer. Marusic comes from a distance with arms wide like a father reaching for his child at the school gate. At that point Milan players join in. Gabbia, caught on the referee’s body-cam, gestures and scolds Collu like a driver after a car crash, "the rear-ender is always wrong," his body language says; Tomori looks incredulous and annoyed, Pavlovic’s looks confused and perhaps even scared that Lazio will be rewarded a penalty.
At some point, there are simply too many people around Collu, especially since none of this matters; other people, elsewhere, sitting on wheeled chairs in a container, decide what happens next, whether Collu reviews the play on the monitor or not. We have already seen Pavlovic’s touch from every angle, and the more we watch, the harder it seems to judge. DAZN’s refereeing consultant Luca Marelli plays a reassuring role in such cases, essential like a priest interpreting sacred texts. For him, it’s not a penalty. Yet Collu is called to the monitor.
The tight camera angle hides what happens, but Collu must stop before reaching the monitor to keep people away. It’s true, we had never thought about it, but VAR and the referee reviewing the action only work in a context where the referee can calmly stand in front of the screen. What if players and staff cause such chaos that the referee can’t even see it? If one day we see police on Serie A fields, as sometimes happens in South America, and recently in Turkey to break a fight between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray triggered by Mourinho mocking the opposing coach, it will be to allow the referee to watch a replay of a potential penalty.
While the referee stands still, there’s the AC Milan boss: Max Allegri. He enters the frame and speaks to Collu, delivering a well-paced but nonsensical comment, according to his post-match account.
And while Italian football is busy turning itself into a theater, millions are already seeking the Best sportsbooks, and perhaps, if you’re a Milan fan, you might be able to strike gold while you’re at it as you take advantage of the Rossoneri’s momentum after the narrow 1-0 victory against Sarri’s Lazio.
Allegri steps in
Allegri said he reminded Collu that the last time he refereed Milan was against Cremonese (Allegri’s only loss this season), telling him, "when you’re there, something always goes wrong for us." Perhaps more than the words, it was the perfectly timed intrusion into the referee’s private space, an implicit dismissal of the VAR process, a mockery of a moment meant for private reflection between the referee and VAR officials, into which Allegri stepped uninvited.
Allegri was sent off, but for what? At that moment, it wasn’t clear, and perhaps the referee might have not awarded the penalty to Lazio. Yet a referee going to VAR is enough to make Allegri act, everything he can, including theatrically removing his coat like a matador, as described by Ultimo Uomo. Allegri leaves the field but, like a great actor keeping the spotlight until the end, argues with Sarri’s assistant Marco Ianni, a face unfamiliar to me but common in Rome.
Allegri provokes the wrong person, whispering words that make Ianni immediately grab his arm. Ianni, who had fought Mourinho in an old Manchester United-Chelsea match, looks unaffected by Allegri’s theatrics and determined not to let the insolence pass. People intervene to separate them, but the situation escalates further. Guendouzi and Gabbia continue debating; Pavlovic stands again, perhaps hoping the chaos will make the referee abandon the review.
Referee Collu gestures and moves along the sideline like sweeping autumn leaves, trying to clear the area, but no one seems to remember his position. It takes a long time to reach the screen (Saelemaekers tries to influence him, pointing to a prior hold before the handball, which Collu eventually chooses). He spends almost two minutes reviewing the play, occasionally turning to calm those urging him, while both teams line up behind him.
We watch the same action repeatedly, losing ourselves in the slow, fragmented pixels. Finally, the most theatrical moment arrives, introduced this season to fill the VAR review gap. Collu walks to midfield, keeps everyone away, gestures a rectangle with his fingers, and begins: "Following review…" Two altar boys with incense wouldn’t feel out of place. Collu’s voice echoes like divine judgment. He could say, "No penalty" or "Foul for Milan," but that would be dull. Instead, he says, "player number 31 has an arm out of shape," exciting Lazio players, then raises his voice: "BUT FIRST he is fouled…" igniting the stadium.
Incidentally, it’s an incredibly convoluted decision, calling a foul on Marusic to avoid a penalty on Pavlovic. Italian referees seem unable to resist calling a foul, as if everything is inherently a foul. Even Luca Marelli finds it baroque and detached from reality, where Pavlovic and Marusic merely hold each other. Lazio finishes the match in a media blackout, relying on a tweet: "Tonight the images speak for us." Indeed, images, as we’ve seen, can say anything and everything.
We watch replays of Milan and Lazio players’ reactions during Collu’s announcement. Isaksen first laughs and claps then freezes, hands to his mouth as if receiving bad news; Tomori first smiles sarcastically, then seems genuinely confused by the complicated language of "arm out of shape," then celebrates. Milan players and San Siro celebrate as if it were Leao’s goal. Gabbia celebrated even more, running toward the goal, hitting Castellanos’ ball ready for the penalty to provoke him, then signaling focus to teammates. Lazio players continue protesting, Sarri looks stunned like a general facing ruins, while an officer tries to explain what happened.
Referee Collu Ends the Chaos:
Collu suddenly looks relaxed. He runs to the penalty area, removes the ball from Castellanos, gestures briefly as order returns. He takes another minute to restart play. Before that match, many wouldn’t have recognized Collu on the street, now his face feels unforgettable.
From Romagnoli's shot deflected off Pavlovic's elbow to Maignan kicking long, 7 minutes and 35 seconds passed. Two more minutes will be playedwithout anything remotely important. Nothing compares to those seven and a half minutes when Milan-Lazio became a piece of theater.
