Maurizio Mariani: Last News

Barcelona defender Jules Kounde has said his controversial challenge on Marcus Rashford was a '50/50' last week.

Barcelona sporting director Jordi Cruyff has suggested he believes Xavi's side should have had a penalty in the Europa League clash against Manchester United on Thursday night.

Manchester United fans were left baffled after VAR failed to intervene after Barcelona's Gavi clashed off the ball with Bruno Fernandes on Thursday evening (February 16).Fernandes took a tumble to the turf after being tripped and shoved by the Spain international, but no action was taken by referee Maurizio Mariani, with Massimiliano Irrati on VAR duty.The incident took place after the Portugal international caught the 18-year-old on the back of the ankle, which led to the petulant reaction.READ MORE: Sir Alex Ferguson fumed at 'stupidest question ever heard' after Barcelona beat Man UtdOne fan wrote on Twitter: "Gavi gets no yellow card for hitting Bruno Fernandes?" A second said: "Bruno Fernandes is not going to take a liking to Gavi."A third wrote: "Red card to Gavi how can he floor Fernandes like that?"A fourth added: "Gavi's been instructed to wind up Bruno Fernandes, Xavi knows he can upset Bruno and Gavi is the ultimate wind-up. Brilliant."Did VAR make a mistake? Tell us in the comments section below.A fifth said: "Gavi thought he was whinging s***house? Meet Bruno Fernandes." Speaking on talkSPORT, Dean Ashton said: "He's just shoved him in the back for absolutely no reason whatsoever and the referee spotted it." The contest had a lively start with chances falling to both Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski, with both sides looking to progress into the round of 16.Erik ten Hag said before the match: "I think we can put together a good counter-attack but we have to bring them out of their comfort zone, we have to press them high when we can.

Serie A defeat to Napoli on Sunday.Goals from Victor Osimhen and Andrea Petagna secured a valuable victory to move Napoli within a point of Italian table-toppers Inter Milan, however the game's biggest talking point was a rather bizarre collision.With the contest still goalless at the 50 minute mark and Venezia on the attack, an oblivious Ebuehi clashed heads with an equally unsuspecting Maurizio Mariani - the match referee.While both men were left bloodied, the Nigerian right back came off worse and could be seen writhing around in agony before receiving treatment.The pair appeared so engrossed in the game and were fully focused on the ball, when the referee stopped in his tracks and found himself bumped by the Serie A defender.In a sickening clash of heads, Mariani's VAR earpiece seemingly did damage to both his own ear and that of Ebuehi’s eyebrow, resulting in some nasty cuts.A disorientated Mariani stumbled to his feet before Napoli players waved for club medics to treat the official, while Ebuehi was patched up by Venezia club doctors on the turf.Who will win the Serie A title this season? Let us know in the comments section.Thankfully following a few minutes of treatment, and a Terry Butcher-style bandage, the player was passed fit to continue.However, despite his valiance in playing on, it proved to be a day to forget the battered and bruised right-back.Ebuehi later saw red of a different kind after receiving his marching orders five minutes into injury time, moments before Napoli struck a second.The incident isn't the only occasion in which the recently-promoted Venice-based outfit have found themselves in the news this season.The Winged Lions unveiled a stylish kit ahead of their first campaign back in Italy's