Napoli threaten to play YOUTH team against Juventus in Coppa Italia second leg in protest over referee


NAPOLI are threatening to put out their YOUTH team in the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final against Juventus.

The Naples club are livid with the performance of ref Paolo Valeri in their 3-1 first-leg defeat in Turin.

Napoli are raging over the performance of ref ref Paolo Valeri
Napoli are raging over the performance of ref ref Paolo Valeri
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And even the mayor of Naples got involved, so enraged were supporters.

Paulo Dybala fired in a pair of second-half penalties amid furious protests from Napoli players.

The Argentinian hitman seemed to take a dive for the first, moments into the second half, before dusting himself down to net the leveller.

Gonzalo Higuain put Juve ahead before Valeri pointed to the spot a second time when Pepe Reina was adjudged to have fouled Juan Cuadrado, only for replays to shows that the former Liverpool keeper touched the ball before wiping out the Colombian.

Pep Reina has a spot-kick awarded against him for bringing down Juan Cuadrado
Pepe Reina has a spot-kick awarded against him for bringing down Juan Cuadrado
EPA
Valeri books Pepe Reina after awarding a second penalty to Juventus
Valeri books Napoli keeper Reina after awarding a second penalty to Juventus
EPA
Dycala stroked in two penalties from the spot
Paolo Dybala stroked in two penalties from the spot for Juventus
EPA

To make matters worse, the second came as Juve broke with Napoli still appealing for what looked like a stonewall penalty to them after Raul Albiol was chopped down.

Napoli director Cristian Giuntoli described the performance of the whistler Valeri as “shameful and damaging to all Italian football”.

City mayor Luigi De Magistris then weighed in with a statement.

It read: “Yesterday in Turin we suffered once again from an injustice, a game that was full of, and influenced by, repeated refereeing mistakes.

Dybala celebrates of of his two penalties for Juventus
Dybala celebrates of of his two penalties for Juventus
EPA

“It was a disgrace on top of disgrace.”

Sky Sports report that Napoli are now considering throwing in their kids for the second leg in protest.

There was further controversy in the competition last night when a Stadio Olimpico stadium announcer had to appeal for Lazio fans stop racist chanting they were directing at Roma defender Antonio Rudiger.

Lazio won the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile.

Roma defeat Antonio Rudiger was racially abused in Roma's defeat to rivals Lazio
Roma defeat Antonio Rudiger was racially abused in Roma’s defeat to rivals Lazio
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