Italian journalist hits back at Neville and Roy Keane as Man Utd legends urged to think about Serie A Ballon d'Or winners

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ByLorenzo Bettoni

Feb 11, 2024 13:17

epa10382940 Former Manchester United's player Gary Neville speaks before the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool FC and Leicester City in Liverpool, Britain, 30 December 2022. EPA-EFE/Adam Vaughan EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications

Manchester United legends Gary Neville and Roy Keane have recently questioned the ethics and sportsmanship of some Serie A clubs in the Champions League during the ’90s and Italian journalist Luigi Garlando hit back at the pair: ‘Think about how many players won the Ballon d’Or in Serie A.’

Neville and Keane recently discussed their experiences against Italian clubs in the Champions League, questioning the cleanliness of Serie A sides, but they didn’t directly mention players or clubs.

Neville said a few Italian teams he faced during their playing careers “weren’t clean”, while his ex-teammate Keane added: “When we played certain teams, I would be walking off and I’d be absolutely shattered. I’d be looking at players I’d played against, a couple of Italian teams, and they looked like they’d not even played a match.”

Their recent claims prompted a reaction from Italian media, specifically from La Gazzetta dello Sport columnist Luigi Garlando, one of the most popular football journalists in the country.

“Every time we meet an English team, we always have the feeling that they outrun us, so we try to find a reason behind it. Are they training harder than us? Is it down to the Premier League’s intensity? On the contrary, when we go faster, they assume we are doping. It’s funny,” wrote Garlando on Sunday’s printed edition of the pink paper on page 27.

“We also suggest considering how many players won the Ballon d’Or in Serie A: Ronaldo, Zidane, Baggio, and Kaka. Dear Gary and Roy, start from the goal that Kaka scored at your Old Trafford in April 2007.

“With a tricky header, he squeezed past Evra and Heinze who collided like two drunks in a pub. That was our doping: class. Those who have class, fly away.”

Neville won the Champions League twice at Old Trafford and collected 602 appearances with the Red Devils while Keane played 480 matches at Old Trafford.