Lukaku, the racist buu then the exultation, the expulsion and the fight

It was a crazy night for Romelu Lukaku. He had started the Italian derby on the bench, but he still found a way to be the absolute protagonist first by converting the penalty that sealed the final draw and then with the expulsion for a second yellow card. The second yellow card for the exultation under the Juventus curve, a military salute with the right hand and the index finger of the left hand in front of the mouth to ask for silence. He had already celebrated in this way with the Belgium shirt, after the goal against Sweden. At the time it was a message for his injured friend Doku, but also (and above all) for his critics. A kind of “I go on my way despite everything you say about me”. Last night that “silence” was also aimed at those who insulted him with buu and other racist expressions.

CONTROVERSY AND BUU

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Lukaku, who had missed two goals against Fiorentina, wanted to redeem himself immediately and he succeeded. He sent out an important message in view of the end of the season and, in particular, the quarter-finals of the Champions League scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday 19: he wasn’t as brilliant as in the two matches against Belgium, but he was still a decisive result not to start from a position of disadvantage the second leg of the 26th. The night at the Allianz Stadium, however, will not be remembered only for the penalty converted coldly (displaced Szczesny): before and after the 1-1 draw there were seconds of authentic tension which the Giant would gladly have done without. It all started when he committed a bookable foul (promptly taken) on Gatti to try to win back a ball. Already at that moment he had been “caught” by the curve where the hottest Juventus fans returned. Then the penalty, preceded and followed by the racist bullies, but also by the fight ignited by the intervention of Perin, Cuadrado and other Juventus players. “Dumb” Big Rom yelled twice, facing someone on the bend, while his companions hugged him. A signal that the striker has heard something that he didn’t like at all: in the locker room and to the managers he spoke of a mix of racist insults and bullshit. The buu can also be heard in some videos circulating on the net. Now it remains to be seen whether the men of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office will have put them on the scoresheet or if possibly the Sports Judge will ask for an in-depth investigation. In fact, however, the case has already exploded even internationally (just take a look at foreign sites to realize it) and Michael Yorkmark, the president of Roc Nation, the agency that together with the lawyer Ledure represents Lukaku, thundered on Instagram: “Romelu deserves an apology from Juventus and I expect the League to condemn the behavior of his fans. The Italian authorities must take advantage of this episode to stop racism, rather than punish the victim”. Bianconeri Danilo and Perin instead shifted their attention to the Belgian’s gesture: “He silenced our curve and the expulsion is right” they said said, while Inzaghi cited the precedent of Lookman’s exultation (and of the yellow card removed) hoping that his center forward is not disqualified.Material for the Sports Judge and, who knows, for the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

QUOTE SIX

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Going back to the field, last night’s was the sixth goal of the season with Inter for the number 90, the “heaviest” together with the one in the round of 16 first leg match against Porto. In the last two games played with the Nerazzurri, Big Rom didn’t give the impression of being on the ball as happened with Belgium during the break, but compared to the black period of injuries, now… he sees the light. In Salerno he hopes to score again and then to repeat himself in Lisbon, in the first leg of the quarterfinals. He wants to push Inter to enter into negotiations with Chelsea to have him back on loan. He is not interested in knowing who will sit on the Blues bench next season (or even on the Nerazzurri one): Romelu has chosen Milan as the city to live in and Inter as the team to play. Now he intends to demonstrate that he can still be decisive as in the year of the Scudetto. He still has meetings to do it. Don’t expect a season finale from him… trivial. The rigor of Turin, perhaps, has definitely rekindled Lukaku.