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GHOSTS THAT HIDE IN THE NIGHT

An Italian word that roughly translates to the grit and fierce determination upon which Juventus have historically based their relentless, never-say-die attitude, “grinta” was fairly conspicuous by its absence in Istanbul on Tuesday night. Instead it was replaced by a collective performance that had all the structural integrity of a soggy cannolo. Having come from a goal down to lead at half-time courtesy of two Teun Koopmeiners goals, Juve did show a modicum of resilience in their Bigger Cup shellacking at the hands of Galatasaray, but only before a second-half collapse so preposterous it suggested their half-time refreshments had been spiked with LSD or magic mushrooms. While there was always a decent chance an ensemble cast of Galatasaray Expendables featuring Davinson Sánchez, Lucas Torreira, Victor Osimhen, Leroy Sané, Mauro Icardi and Ilkay Gündogan would give their Italian visitors a good run for their money over two legs, few could have foreseen them spanking five goals past the Bianconeri in the first one.

Round Turin way, there has been plenty of blame to go around, much of it apportioned to the hapless Juan Cabal. Brought on as a half-time replacement for Andrea Cambiaso, who was having his backside handed to him and tiptoeing his way along the disciplinary tightrope, the replacement left-back conceded the free-kick that led to Sánchez shouldering home his first ever Bigger Cup goal and picked up two yellow cards before disconsolately walking off after 22 minutes. An evening Cabal won’t forget in a hurry, his cameo earned him the accolade of “undisputed MVP of the disaster” from the Italian daily Tuttosport, who described his impact as “a horror movie”, noting that he “stained everything he touched”. As withering put-downs go it merits an oofs-up-to-11 on the Vicente del Bosque meme scale. Rivalling his Colombian teammate for the accolade of worst of a very bad Juve bunch on the pitch, Lloyd Kelly was bullied throughout by Osimhen and had his pocket picked by the Nigerian in the buildup to Gala’s fourth after receiving the mother of all hospital passes from Khéphren Thuram as Juve faffed around at the back. “Any hesitation can cost dearly,” said Juve boss Luciano Spalletti … before the game.

While he is unlikely to ever rival Diego Maradona or even Scott McTominay in the Neapolitan popularity stakes, for one night only Noa Lang was crowned undisputed King of Naples. On loan at Galatasaray from the Serie A champions, the Dutch midfielder chipped in with two goals to help put Napoli’s bitter rivals to the sword. Sacha Boey completed a rout that had been started by Gabriel Sara, a player who famously swapped the hostile Championship cauldron that is Carrow Road for the comparatively tranquil atmosphere of Rams Park. “Even with a red card, we should not have allowed all those scoring opportunities,” sighed Juve defender Pierre Kalulu. “We need to figure out what happened, but it’s in the past now and in football you must be able to quickly move on to the next match.” Suspended for Juve’s next outing against Como, Kalulu’s next match will be the second leg against Galatasaray. And after Tuesday’s trimming, it is one he and his teammates are unlikely to approach with relish.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Tom Bassam from 5.45pm GMT for minute-by-minute updates from Qarabag 1-2 Newcastle in men’s Bigger Cup, before Sarah Rendell guides you through Arsenal 4-0 Leuven (agg: 8-0) in the women’s edition, while Scott Murray is in the Premier League hot seat for Wolves 1-3 Arsenal.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are. But they have the protection of others who, theoretically, have an obligation to punish them” – Vinícius Júnior pulls no punches after Real Madrid’s 1-0 first-leg win at Benfica, condemning the failure of referee François Letexier to act after alleged abuse by the hosts’ Gianluca Prestianni. The match was delayed for 10 minutes with Madrid’s players ready to walk off before play resumed. Prestianni later denied the allegations, while Kick It Out has accused José Mourinho of gaslighting for his response.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily tour of refereeing nightmares across Europe, I’d like to wave an assistant referee’s flag for England. Darren England’s immaculate reffing of the Macclesfield v Brentford FA Cup tie showed it can be done, and done very well, without VAR” – John French.

Re: the question in yesterday’s Football Daily: ‘Who wants to be a referee?’ Well, I do. I love football. I am a very weak player. If I do not referee games, those games may not get played. The only thing worse than a game with several refereeing errors is a game where no referees are present and players try to make calls themselves. I have been part of that, too. What would help is more excellent former players who choose to referee” – George Affeldt.

Dare I make a suggestion from across the pond to help remedy football’s terrible implementation of VAR? Virtually none of America’s conduct is praiseworthy these days, but the one thing we have done well is the way video reviews have been implemented. The key has been the challenge system, rather than reviewing almost every important call, as in the Premier League. Managers/coaches are given a very limited number of challenges to on-field decisions, and they need to decide whether or not to challenge almost immediately. If their challenge is correct, the call is overturned and they get another to use later. If they are wrong, they lose the ability to challenge any important ref howlers that might be just around the corner. The video booth can’t intrude with some piece of minutiae that no one on the field noticed, and we don’t typically have 1,057 controversies per game. There is one downside for fans: highly entertaining manager meltdowns are now a rarity here. If you really believe a call is wrong, you challenge it, and if you don’t have a challenge because you were wrong in your last one, you eat some humble pie, something the former-player pundits of the Premier League should consider adding to their diets” – Steve Plever.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Steve Plever. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

RECOMMENDED SHOPPING

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RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Join Max, Barry and the rest of the Football Weekly pod squad as they digest all of the latest action and stories.

ROTTERDAM OR ANYWHERE …

The Raheem Sterling comeback trail has taken another detour. Freed from his Chelsea contract for a pretty penny, he became a Feyenoord player earlier in February, only for further legalities and pesky red tape to throw a spanner in the works. Post-Brexit, Dutch employment regulations mean Sterling must train in, er, Belgium until he gets his work permit. Feyenoord’s solution is to move squad training lock, stock and barrel to Tubize, south of Brussels, around 130 clicks from Rotterdam. “One of the reasons is that [he] can train with the team,” roared manager Robin van Persie, for it is he. “But we can also work on our team culture there. It’s for Raheem and for those processes that we’re going to do this.” The work permit process usually takes a week so Sterling may have to sit out Sunday’s game against Telstar.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Véron Mosengo-Omba, the Confederation of African football’s general secretary, is “occupying the seat illegally” and must be made to stand down, so says Samir Sobha, president of the Mauritius FA. The issue at hand is that Mosengo-Omba is 66, where 63 is the compulsory retirement age for staff.

Other Bigger Cup news: PSG lead their tie with Monaco 3-2 after recovering from a two-goal deficit, while Dortmund are 2-0 up on Atalanta, despite their team bus getting caught in pre-match traffic.

No rest in the Championship, where Wrexham’s promotion charge has been slowed by a 2-2 draw with Bristol City. And after beating Charlton 4-2, Portsmouth have clambered four points clear of the drop zone.

Are Hearts, er, all of a flutter in fitba? Roared Derek MacInnes: “I’d rather have the pressure where we are than the teams at the bottom. I think our players are deserving of so much praise and support at this stage of the season.”

And Jürgen Klopp has been enjoying the sights of the Winter Olympics biathlon, even getting to ring the bell before the last lap of the men’s relay. “It’s, for me, the best combination of all the physical aspects of sports and all the mental aspects of sports,” he cooed. “[If you took them] and put it in one sport, if you would have asked me that, let somebody run until he dies, pretty much, and then give him a rifle? Not sure who had that idea! But no, really, for ages, I have loved it.”

STILL WANT MORE?

Sam Dalling reports on how Arsenal are keeping disabled fans in the game, with Thomas Clements sharing his story in this short film.

“The soul left”: Simon Hart looks at how Everton men’s move from Goodison Park has impacted the area’s boozers.

And has a footballer ever been sent off but still named player of the match? The Knowledge knows.

MEMORY LANE

As Newcastle’s Bigger Cup campaign continues at Qarabag, to December 2002 and memories of their last run beyond the initial group stage. Sir Bobby Robson watched a pitch inspection before their game at Camp Nou that would have to be postponed until the following night. Barcelona went on to win the match 3-1, with goals from Dani, Patrick Kluivert and Thiago Motta, after Shola Ameobi had scored an equaliser.

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