Letexier could have ruined the game: Italian media blame referee despite Juventus’ win

Italian sports papers blamed referee François Letexier on Thursday and Gazzetta said the French official could have ‘ruined the game’ even if Juventus still managed to secure a 3-2 win in Leipzig.

It was an eventful night at the Red Bull Arena last night. French referee Letexier ignored Juventus’ penalty kick appeals in the first half and needed VAR checks to give Michele Di Gregorio a straight red and Leipzig a penalty only five minutes later.

Former Serie A referee Gianpaolo Calvarese said last night that Juventus should have been given a penalty kick for a foul on Dusan Vlahovic in the first half, while Di Gregorio’s red card was legitimate.

Italian sports papers are pretty harsh on Letexier on Thursday morning.

On page 3, Gazzetta rated the French official 4/10. The pink paper wrote that the 35-year-old lacked humility and “could have ruined the game” despite being an excellent official.

According to Gazzetta and Tuttosport, Leipzig’s penalty kick was “debatable” because Douglas Luiz tried to protect his face. However, VAR “suddenly woke up” and urged Letexier to the pitchside monitor.

Gazzetta insisted that Letexier should have done the same to check the Vlahovic penalty incident in the first half but didn’t do so in a “mix of distraction, hasty and arrogance.”

Tuttosport went beyond writing on Thursday’s front page that the Bianconeri were like an “anti-theft team” in Leipzig and managed to win the game “despite the referee.”