Pierre Kalulu has probably made his last appearance in Serie A this season after receiving his marching orders in Saturday’s big contest between Lazio and Juventus.
The 24-year-old has been one of the club’s most consistent players this season. Hence, the management has long decided to exercise their option to buy him from Milan at the end of the season.
However, the Frenchman’s solid campaign in Turin has been blighted by the untimely howler he committed on Saturday.
Kalulu was caught by the VAR hitting Taty Castellanos in the face, which earned him a red card following an on-field review.
Juventus pay the price for Kalulu’s blunder
The Lyon youth product left Juventus with a man down to defend a 1-0 lead for more than 30 minutes at the Stadio Olimpico.
While the Bianconeri held on admirably, their resistance was abruptly ended by Matias Vecino’s last-gasp equaliser which cost them two valuable points in the epic race for fourth place.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Kalulu will likely be slapped with a two-match ban, similar to his teammate Kenan Yildiz who was also sent off for violent conduct last month against Monza.
Kalulu unlikely to make another Serie A appearance this season
This would signal the end of the centre-back’s Serie A campaign, so his next appearance would ensue in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Therefore, Juventus have been dealt another blow at a time when Igor Tudor is already suffering from a shortage of options at the back. Lloyd Kelly and Gleison Bremer remain on the sidelines, while Nicolo Savona will also skip the contest against Udinese through a yellow-card suspension.
Hence, the pink newspaper expects the Juventus management to retaliate by handing Kalulu a fine in the region of €60-70 thousand, albeit it would do little to make up for the damage caused by the Milan loanee.
