Gianluca Mancini, cost defender dearly for red in Panathinaikos-Roma match

Roma&#8217s European night in Athens against Panathinaikos immediately took an unexpected turn: on 15′ in fact, Gianluca Mancini was sent off for an intervention on Pantovic judged to be a clear goal opportunity. Referee Juan Martinez Munuera had actually initially drawn the yellow, only to be called back by VAR and asked to review the action on the monitor. After the on-field reviws the yellow turned into a direct red. A decision that, beyond the final result, will weigh on the European destinies of the Giallorossi defender.

The episode stemmed from a contact at speed: the Spanish referee had interpreted it as a simple tactical foul deserving of a yellow card, but subsequent review convinced the same match director to punish Mancini with the maximum penalty. Bland were the defender&#8217s protests, given also the referee&#8217s decisive attitude. No particular countermove was made by coach Gasperini, who preferred to continue, at least in the first half, with Cristante’s retreat to the line of central defenders.

The expulsion will certainly cost both Mancini himself and Roma dearly. The straight red will result in at least a one-day disqualification, but it is not ruled out that the sporting judge may add a second one, assessing the dynamics of the intervention, aimed at desperately preventing the Pao striker from s’sprinting alone toward the goal. It will be a heavy absence for Gasperini, who will lose one of his most used starters in a context, the European one, in which the team needs its most representative men.

For Mancini, that in Athens is the first expulsion of the season, destined to have immediate repercussions in the European context. For Roma, then, it is a wake-up call: losing an important defensive reference right at the start of the knockout stage may affect the path to the Europa League. Now the ball passes to the sporting judge.