Verona and the referee hold Juventus back

VERONA, SATURDAY — Juventus displayed signs of fatigue after enduring a tiring and dramatic week. "The Old Lady" was held to a 1-1 draw by Hellas Verona on Saturday (20/9/2025) at the Marcantonio Bentegodi Stadium in Verona.

The draw against Verona, known for the romance "Romeo and Juliet," ended Juventus' perfect record in the previous three matches. Nevertheless, Juventus can still occupy the top of the standings at least until Napoli plays their game against Pisa on Tuesday (23/9/2025) early morning WIB.

Mrs. Besar took the lead first through a shot from winger Francisco Conceicao in the 19th minute. However, the home team equalized with a penalty executed by striker Gift Orban, one minute before the end of the first half.

Verona even managed to score a second goal in the 69th minute. However, the goal by the team's midfielder and captain, Suat Serdar, was disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR) due to Serdar being in an offside position.

"We used too much energy in the 4-3 (against Inter Milan) and 4-4 (against Borussia Dortmund). This match really showed that we lacked energy," said Juve coach Igor Tudor after the game, as quoted by Tuttosport.

Tudor acknowledged that his team has tried to perform to the best of their abilities. However, the level of fitness caused the Great Lady to fail in fulfilling the ambition of achieving victory.

"In some situations, we should have done better, but that does not make me angry. We cannot always win. This result requires us to conduct an analysis to improve," said the Croatian tactician.

Juve has been trying to besiege Verona's defense. This is evidenced by 72 percent ball possession. However, Juve failed to create significant opportunities for a goal and managed only 10 shots.

Conversely, Verona, relying on counterattacks, was able to create two significant opportunities from 14 shots taken. Verona even forced Juve's goalkeeper, Michele Di Gregorio, to make three saves.

The draw helped Verona secure two points in the last two matches. Last week, Verona also ended the winning streak of the promoted team, Cremonese, in the first three games of the 2025-2026 season.

"I'm very happy with this goal. I also enjoyed the reaction of the stadium for my first goal," Orban told DAZN.

Verona coach Paolo Zanetti called his team's performance fantastic. He stated that Verona did everything they could to win the match.

"We put in a great performance against a top team. We scored the goals we needed to get the points, even though we missed out on the win by inches," Zanetti was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Despite his disappointment at failing to win, Tudor strongly criticized referee Andrea Rapuano, claiming he made two fatal errors.

First, he highlighted Referee Rapuano's decision to penalize Juve with a penalty in the 44th minute. Rapuano pointed to the penalty spot because Juve's right-back, Joao Mario, handled the ball inside his own penalty area.

Tudor said Mario did not have the attention to touch the ball with a prohibited part of his body.

"How can a penalty be given if a player does not see the ball? Only someone who has never played football would consider that a penalty. The penalty is embarrassing," he said.

Secondly, Tudor criticized the referee for not issuing a red card to Orban for the foul on Juve defender Federico Gatti in the 45+2 minute. At that moment, Orban fouled Gatti during a ball contest situation.

The replay shows Orban raising his arm, causing his elbow to hit Gatti's face. For this incident, Rapuano only issued Orban a yellow card.

"It should have been a red card. I saw it myself," Tudor said.

Former Italian League referee Luca Marelli, in his commentary for DAZN, argued that Rapuano made the wrong decision on Juve's penalty. Despite a re-review by the video assistant referee (VAR), Marelli added, Juve should not have been awarded the penalty.

"In the replay, it can be seen that Mario closed his eyes, then the ball headed towards his hand. I do not agree with the referee's decision because it was an unintentional ball situation. The player did not know the direction of the ball," said Marelli.

As for Orban's elbow, Marelli again agreed with Tudor.

"Orban did not look at the ball. He seemed to have the intention to direct his hand to the head of (Gatti), so the correct decision is a red card," said Marelli, who previously served as the main referee in 76 matches of professional competitions in Italy from 2005 to 2009.