LIVE TMW – Naples, Ancelotti: "A resounding mistake, the VAR is not a help"

© photo by Insidefoto / Image Sport

Friends of TMW, good evening and welcome to the direct text of the Naples technician's press conference, Carlo Ancelotti, after the challenge with Atalanta.

9.49 pm – The conference begins

Let's start with the episode. "It is a very simple episode, there was a mistake. A decision taken by the VAR and not by the referee. He had to at least put the doubt to the referee, he refereed Banti and not Giacomelli. This is the problem".

The expulsion? "I tried to calm my parents. The referee asked me for a hand and I said 'don't you doubt it'? It shouldn't have happened, it's very sad".

Gasperini did not respond to the episode, saying he was going to see it again. "Beyond this, we played the match very well, especially in the second half. We deserved to win, the test was excellent. We often take it out on ourselves, this time we can't blame ourselves for anything. Regret remains, two points lost that we deserved. I'm sorry, but the episode is clear, there was also the red of Pasalic on Callejon. But we should explain how it works, whether it referees the VAR or not. "It's not a support! It's the referee! And I feel personally attacked, it's already the second expulsion. The fourth man was Doveri who expelled me to Milan, it's an attack on my professionalism, I'm sorry for the players and society "-

The conditions of Allan? "He has a knee sprain, he has some pain, but not too much."

Concerns? "Linked to these doubts in the decisions, a little to the ranking, but by playing like this we will go back very quickly".

Should Nicchi or Rizzoli apologize? "Nicchi will say that it is not a penalty, it is a right decision, he will take the parts of the referee, as he always did, but it was a sensational mistake, not the referee in my opinion. Here we take it with a mechanical means that is not a means because there is another referee behind ".

Confusion problem for the VAR protocol? "I am a coach, there are people in charge, but to improve we need to recognize mistakes, like when we play badly ".

Psychologically, is a race over so it leaves a trail to the players? "We have to overcome the anger and disappointment for this episode. There is a race well done, with great attention of all. Atalanta is a great team, we put it under physically and technically, we deserved to win without a doubt. We recover, it will not be easy, but we are fine, we also have Maksimovic, now we will have Mario Rui and we hope that Allan has no problems. The attackers are fresh, sorry for the points, but there is time ".

Distracted in 2-2? "No, I will be angry about the episode before the goal".

21.59 – The press conference ends