AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan and his team-mates walked off the pitch during the first half of the 3-2 Serie A win at Udinese on Saturday evening.
The 28-year-old France international left the action shortly after his team had taken the lead, apparently indicating to referee Fabio Maresca that he had heard racist abuse from the crowd at the Stadio Friuli.
Maignan was followed by the other Milan players but they returned to the pitch soon after and play was able to resume around seven minutes after Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s goal had broken the deadlock.
Maignan was beaten three minutes later by a Lazar Samardzic shot, before substitute Florian Thauvin scored to give Udinese the lead.
However, fellow sub Luka Jovic earned the visitors a point with a close-range finish with eight minutes remaining, before another second-half replacement – Noah Okafor – won it in added-time.
Before the Maignan incident, Olivier Giroud had been denied in the 16th minute when his shot was saved at the near post by Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye.
The France international striker had another chance three minutes later but he failed to get clean contact on a ball from Theo Hernandez and Okoye saved.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 31st minute when Loftus-Cheek netted his third Serie A goal of the season, sidefooting Hernandez’s cutback into the corner with the aid of a slight deflection.
After the incident involving Maignan, the hosts levelled when Samardzic’s curling left-footed shot from just outside the area gave the goalkeeper no chance.
Udinese took the lead in the 62nd minute, through Thauvin. The 30-year-old former Newcastle winger capitalised on weak defending from Fernandez and Tijani Reijnders before beating the exposed Maignan with a left-footed shot.
Yacine Adli should have done better for the visitors when unmarked at the far post in the 79th minute, then Giroud headed wide, under pressure, soon after.
The visitors equalised in the 82nd minute, Jovic reacting quickly to finish off from close range after Giroud’s deflected shot had struck the bar, just seven minutes after the Serbian’s introduction.
Giroud saw a shot tipped over in added time before Okafor got the visitors’ winner in the third minute of added-time, blasting in unmarked at the far post after Giroud had won a header.
The goal extended Milan’s winning run to four matches and reduced the gap on table-topping city rivals Inter to six points.
Flick: Barcelona need to learn how to win without Yamal
Hansi Flick has urged Barcelona to find a way to win without the absent Lamine Yamal, as he misses a second consecutive match with an ankle injury.
The 17-year-old missed their 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad which halted Barca's seven-match winning streak in all competitions before the international break.
Yamal has only missed two LaLiga matches since the start of last season, while Barcelona have lost both games this campaign in which he has not started, after coming off the bench in a 4-2 loss to Osasuna in September.
Flick said that his players need to show that they can win without their teenage sensation.
"Tomorrow I will put the question to the team, it will be a very good question for them [if they can win without Yamal]," Flick told a press conference on Friday.
"Against Real Sociedad, we didn't play well, and it wasn't because of Lamine's absence. He is a very important player for us, but we have options to also play well without him.
"He won't be able to play tomorrow, we don't know when he will be able to go back from his injury, but what is clear for me is that we want him to be back only when he is 100% recovered."
Yamal played a big role in Spain's European Championship title win earlier this year in Germany, winning the best goal and the Young Player of the Tournament award in his breakthrough campaign.
He continued to thrive this season with five goals and seven assists to help Barca to the top of the LaLiga standings on 33 points, six ahead of rivals Real Madrid, who have a game in hand in second place.
Yamal is also the only player across Europe's big five leagues to complete 25+ dribbles (34), create 25+ chances (26), have 25+ shots (39), score 5+ goals (five) and provide 5+ assists (seven).
Flick suggested that he may have to adjust his system, as it is hard to replace a player with such a mixture of speed, technique and finishing.
"We might be a bit limited by the absence of Lamine," Flick said.
"But we have a lot of players with great quality, and they can play in different positions. We'll see what we'll need and we'll design the game plan.
"It's always important after the international break to come back strong and with confidence. That's our goal for tomorrow."
Moca FC's Baez, Correa sanctioned by Concacaf Disciplinary Committee for violent conduct in Carib Cup semis clash against Cavalier
The Concacaf Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned players Miguel Baez and Jesus Correa of Dominican Republic club Moca FC for incidents that occurred during their Concacaf Caribbean Cup second-leg semi-final match against Jamaica’s Cavalier FC on Thursday, October 30.
After considering the documentation and evidence gathered during its investigation and based on the competition regulations and the applicable disciplinary code, the Disciplinary Committee has imposed Miguel Baez a six-match suspension and Jesus Correa a three-match suspension for violent conduct.
The sanctions include the automatic one-match suspension for the on-field direct red cards given to each player during that 7-0 beating in Kingston.
Both Baez and Correa must serve their suspensions during the upcoming 2024 Concacaf Caribbean Cup third-place matches and future editions of the competition.
Moca FC is scheduled to meet Haiti's Real Hope FC in that home-and-away tie on November 26 and December 3 to determine the next Caribbean representative that will contest next year's Concacaf Champions Cup. Finalists Cavalier and Cibao FC, also of the Dominican Republic, have secured automatic berths.
Meanwhile, the Disciplinary Committee has also warned the players and the club that more severe sanctions could be taken should incidents occur during future matches.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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