Juve fans continue anti-Balotelli chants

Juventus fans continued their attack on Mario Balotelli ahead of the club’s Italian Cup semi-final, second leg against Lazio at Turin’s Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday.

Juve have been ordered to play their next Serie A match behind closed doors after a section of fans racially taunted Balotelli, an Italian of Ghanaian descent, during the clash with Inter Milan last Saturday.

Juve appealed the sanction but coach Claudio Ranieri said he would order his players to stop playing if racist chanting was repeated.

But two sides of the stadium made their feelings known ahead of the Lazio game, chanting ‘Balotelli’s a son of a bitch’.

Balotelli had irked the Juve faithful at the weekend for his part in the sending off of Juve’s Portuguese midfielder Tiago, who kicked Balotelli in frustration after the teenage forward played keep ball on the touchline with his side leading 1-0 — the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Lazio hold a 2-1 lead from last month’s first leg in Rome. The winners of this tie will face either Inter or Sampdoria, who hold a 3-0 first leg lead, in next month’s final.