Juventus and Roma have shared a bitter rivalry since the 1980s, when the Rome-based team were denied the Serie A title due to a howler by a referee.
Evidence of the dislike between the two sides can be gauged from the fact that during the 1990s, then-Roma coach Zdenek Zeman accused the players of the Old Lady of doping.
Roma boss Jose Mourinho was furious after his team suffered a controversial defeat at the hands of fierce rivals Juventus in a Serie A game on Sunday.
Not only did the referee’s mistake result in Juventus’ 1-0 win over Mourinho’s side, it also led to an ugly spat between the players of the two teams in the tunnel.
“All the words we heard from Juventus in the tunnel and the locker room, I hope they say it in public too”, Mourinho said about the confrontation in his post-match press conference.
“They know how much they struggled against us. I won here many years ago without playing so well, today we lost when playing very well”, the former Manchester United manager added.
Although Juve took an early lead in the game, thanks to Moise Kean’s 16th minute strike, Roma players celebrated minutes later in the first half when Tammy Abraham netted the ball inside their opponents’ goal post.
However, their celebrations were short lived, as the referee blew his whistle and instead of recognising the goal, he offered them a penalty which Mourinho’s men eventually missed.
In the end, the Bianconeri managed to keep the Roma attacking line at bay before completing a controversial 1-0 victory.
Juventus’ win not only angered Mourinho and his team, but as the Portuguese revealed in his media briefing, words were exchanged between the footballers of the two sides in the tunnel and dressing rooms.
But the one consolation Mourinho has is that despite the loss, Roma are still ahead of Juventus in the Serie A standings. While Mourinho’s side is on the fourth position in the charts with 15 points, Juve are seventh with 14 points.
