Juventus’ final pre-season test ahead of the new campaign, against their reserve side Juventus Next Gen, descended into complete chaos and controversy, with defender Federico Gatti suffering an injury in the middle of the disorder.
The traditional fixture in Turin was brought to a halt at half-time after a large number of supporters stormed onto the pitch in an uncontrolled rush, hoping to get shirts and autographs from their favourite players.Juventus’ Federico Gatti is said to not be at his best from a muscular point of view following this TACKLE from a Juventus fan as fans pitch invaded their final friendly game.
The first team were leading 2-0 at the time, thanks to goals from Francisco Conceição and Weston McKennie, while head coach Luciano Spalletti made wholesale changes during the interval. However, the second half never got underway as the pitch was suddenly flooded by fans.Gatti ended up being the unfortunate victim of the chaotic scenes.
As the Juventus centre-back was calmly making his way off the pitch, one supporter charged towards him from behind, slipped on the grass and crashed heavily into the defender.
Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport described the incident as a “devastating fan tackle”, with Gatti taking a powerful blow that knocked him off balance and left him injured as he fell to the ground.
Following the dangerous collision and the uncontrolled pitch invasion, the organisers had no choice but to abandon the match permanently.The game, which also marked the presentation of Juventus’ new signings Alajbegovic, Celik, Ekhator and Lucumi, was quickly overshadowed by the incident.
Attention in Turin is now focused on Gatti, with everyone awaiting further medical examinations to determine the extent of his injury.