Derby D’Italia Referee Recovers From Atletico Madrid Horrorshow With Commanding Display In Inter Milan Vs Juventus Serie A Clash

Marco Guida recovered from his Champions League horrorshow to put in a commanding performance in the Derby d’Italia between Inter Milan and Juventus.

Today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, praise Guida’s handling of the 4-4 Serie A thriller.

Referee Guida did not have a good week heading into the Derby d’Italia.

Assigned to one of Serie A’s biggest fixtures – and arguably the one with the greatest history of refereeing controversy – Guida got attention for all the wrong reasons in midweek.

It was Guida who was the referee for a Champions League match between Atletico Madrid and Lille.

And the Italian official awarded a penalty in the second half of that match which was nothing short of bizarre.

Guida pointed to the spot after judging Atletico captain Koke to have handled the ball in the area. But replays showed it had been a Lille player who handled the ball.

This was all the more mystifying after VAR did not intervene.

Inevitably, this incident was the source of massive criticism. Atletico even filed a formal complaint with UEFA, since the penalty decision had a decisive impact on the result.

This was not the ideal way to get ready for a Serie A match between bitter rivals Inter and Juventus.

Guida Recovers From Atletico UCL Horrorshow To Take Control Of Inter Vs Juventus Clash

Neither Inter nor Juventus could have any complaints about the refereeing yesterday, though.

In the view of the Gazzetta, the single issue with Guida’s handling of the match was that he should have booked Bianconeri captain Danilo earlier than he did after a number of clumsy and blatant fouls.

But both penalty decisions were stonewall, the Gazzetta argued.

Juventus players argued with Guida after the second penalty he awarded to Inter.

Nerazzurri wingback Denzel Dumfries had clearly handled the ball during the incident.

However, Bianconeri defender Pierre Kalulu had hauled the Dutchman down well before the handball occurred.

Meanwhile, Guida largely kept a lid on things. That’s no easy feat in a fixture like the Derby d’Italia.

There were fireworks in terms of the scoreline and attacking play.

But things never boiled over between the two sets of players. Guida knew when to blow for a foul and when to allow the players to get physical.