´We may as well make it basketball!´ – Milan´s Tonali fumes over Chelsea referee decisions

Sandro Tonali fumed over “ridiculous, embarrassing decisions” from the officials following Milan’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League.

Fikayo Tomori was shown a straight red for a dubious foul on Mason Mount in the penalty area, leading to the Jorginho’s opener from the spot, before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added a second before the interval.

Referee Daniel Siebert delivered a particularly lively performance with the whistle across the first half at San Siro, dishing out an additional five bookings, for six cards from 17 fouls ahead of the break.

Those calls left Tonali stewing after the final whistle, with the Italy international stating that the match felt more akin to basketball in the heightened nature of its disciplinary decisions.

“There are so many incidents like that during a game,” he told Sky Sport Italia. “When you give a penalty and a red card after 18 minutes, for a touch like that., we may as well make it basketball where any touch is a foul.

“It felt like that anyway. We had several yellow cards for ridiculous, embarrassing free kicks in the first half. We have to look at the rest of the game.

6 – Six cards were shown in the first half of Milan-Chelsea, more than in any other #UCL match this season during the first 45 minutes of play. Fight.#MilanChelsea

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) October 11, 2022

“We tried to play with pride and passion, even if it was very difficult in the circumstances. It’s disappointing for all the fans who came here tonight, packed the stadium and expected a different match. We thank them for coming.”

With two games to go in the group stages, Milan can still reach the knockout rounds, with just a three-point gap between them and the Blues at the summit of Group E.