AS Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini said that the goalkeeping coach of the Giallorosi was attacked by the head coach of Bodo/Glimt Kjetil Knutsen after the UEFA Conference League quarter-final.
Italian giants AS Roma suffered a nightmare on their trip to Norway to take on Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League quarter-final. Although Pellegrini opened the scoring with a free header in the first half, the home side ran away with a 2-1 courtesy of goals from Ulrik Saltnes and Hugo Vetlesen in the second half of the match.
However, tempers flared, and an ugly incident ensued after the referee blew the final full-time whistle. Pellegrini has accused Bodo/Glimt manager Kjetil Knutsen of physically assaulting their goalkeeping trainer Nuno Gomes.
“Their coach just attacked our goalkeeping trainer. First, he said a few things to him, then physically attacked him. It’s really sad, because behaviour like this is an insult to Roma, to the players and the staff. It is shameful,”
the captain told Sky Sport Italia.
Sky also mentioned that Norwegian police authorities interviewed Knutsen, Gomes, and the players who witnessed the scuffle between the two individuals.
Although this was the first leg of the quarter-final stage, the two sides had met before in the group stage of the UEFA Conference League, where Bodo/Glimt emerged as shock 6-1 winners against Jose Mourinho’s side. They also went on to hold the Italians to a 2-2 draw at the Stadio Olimpico in the return leg.
However, both sides have shuffled things around since their last meeting against each other. The top goalscorer for the hosts, Ola Solbakken was out with flu symptoms. It was a major loss considering that he scored three of his six UECL goals past the Giallorossi this season, while Nicolo Zaniolo and Leonardo Spinazzola were out of action for Roma.
Pellegrini was also heavily critical of the artificial playing surface in Norway in the quarter-final, and Gianluca Mancini even went off injured with a knee injury.
