Juventus Denied Late Win by Controversial Handball Call in Florence
Juventus walked out of Florence with a point and a sense of injustice. The scoreboard read 2-2. The mood in the Bianconeri camp felt a lot closer to defeat.
In a match that swung back and forth, the final act stole the headlines. Deep into the closing stages, with Juventus pushing for a winner, the ball struck Fiorentina’s Joao Mario on the arm inside the area. Arms went up, players surrounded the referee, and the Juventus bench exploded in protest.
Nothing. The referee waved play on. VAR stayed silent. And the anger began.
A wild night, a bitter ending
The game itself had been chaotic, open, and full of character from both sides.
Fiorentina struck first through Mateo Pellegrino, setting the tone and igniting the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Juventus hit back through Nick Woltemade, who hauled the visitors level and briefly settled the contest.
The pattern repeated. Alieu Njie restored Fiorentina’s lead, only for Gleison Bremer to answer again for Juventus. Two setbacks, two responses. The Bianconeri showed resolve, refused to fold, and dragged themselves back into it each time.
At 2-2, with the clock ticking down, Juventus looked the likelier side to snatch all three points. Then came the flashpoint that will dominate the post-match debate far longer than any of the four goals.
A cross came in, chaos followed, and after a series of deflections the ball cannoned onto Joao Mario’s arm. Juventus players appealed instantly. They were convinced. The referee was not.
No trip to the monitor. No second look. No penalty.
VAR in the firing line
Italian media did not hesitate to take a position. Leading sports dailies La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tuttosport, and Corriere dello Sport all agreed: this should have been a spot-kick for Juventus.
The criticism was not limited to columnists. Former referee and DAZN analyst Luca Marelli dissected the incident with the precision of someone who has lived these decisions from the middle of the pitch.
He pointed to the crucial detail: the point of contact.
According to Marelli, the ball clearly struck Joao Mario “below the elbow, more on the arm than in the armpit.” The deflection, he argued, did not absolve the Fiorentina player, because his arm was held far away from his body in what Marelli described as an unnatural 90-degree angle.
The sequence was messy. Randal Kolo Muani missed an initial header, the ball clipped a boot, then flew up into Joao Mario. But for Marelli, the conclusion was simple: the arm position made the handball punishable.
“There is no doubt the Fiorentina player touched the ball with his arm, and he should have been punished,” he told DAZN, adding that calling the contact “unexpected” was only one interpretation. For him, this was exactly the type of situation where VAR had to intervene and send the referee to the monitor.
It never happened. Juventus were left staring at a still image in their minds, not a replay on the touchline screen.
Two points dropped, questions mounting
On paper, a draw away at Fiorentina is no disaster. In context, it stings.
Juventus sit seventh in Serie A, with 18 points from their opening 11 matches. For a club built on title races and pressure at the top, that is a precarious position. They are chasing, not leading. Nights like this, where a late decision looms so large, feel even more costly.
Their ability to claw their way back twice underlines a certain steel in this side. There is character there, and there is fight. But character without victories rarely satisfies in Turin.
Fiorentina, for their part, will not complain. They weathered the late storm, survived the penalty scare, and held on for a point that keeps them 15th on nine points. For a team trying to steady itself in the lower half of the table, that matters.
Juventus, though, leave Florence with more frustration than reassurance. They know they cannot control every refereeing call. They can control how often they leave themselves at the mercy of one.
The task now is brutal and clear: turn these knife-edge draws into wins, climb out of mid-table traffic, and make sure the story of their season is written by their football, not by a frozen frame in a VAR booth.
