JAKARTA - The duel of the Italian Serie A elite team was marked by controversy when Inter Milan narrowly won 3-2 over Juventus at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, Milan, Sunday, February 15, 2026 WIB. The controversialness of Juve defender Pierre Kalulu became controversial in the Derby d'Italia.
A big match that always takes place tightly and fiercely from the two teams that always perch at the top of the Italian League. The fight from two rich and star-studded teams is labeled Derby d'Italia.
Interestingly, Inter and Juve meetings have always been fierce over the past few seasons. Juve is also superior because they are unbeaten in the previous three matches. In the duel in Milan in the 2024/2025 season, eight goals were scored when the two teams drew 4-4. However, Juve then won a narrow 1-0 victory in the second volume derby at home at the Allianz Stadium.
This season, Juve again defeated Inter with a tight score of 4-3. This is a good capital for the Bianconeri even though they were eliminated in the Coppa Italia after losing 3-0 to Atalanta. Juve then also lost points after being held by Lazio 2-2.
When visiting Inter's headquarters in the derby, Juve actually appeared with full confidence. However, they had to play with 10 men towards the end of the first half. Juve finally had to admit Inter's advantage through Piotr Zielinski's goal in the 90th minute.
"An important victory, maybe even the most important for now," Zielinski said, quoted by Sky Sport.
"We should have avoided situations like when the opponent caught up with the goal. The reason is that we were ahead through Pio's goal [Esposito]. The goal that made us lead the match. Only, we lost concentration. We really have to play better," said the Polish midfielder.
Juve's defeat in the derby made them fail to improve their ranking. The team coached by Luciano Spalletti is still stuck in fifth place and postpones the desire to enter the Champions League zone. Now, Juve has 46 points. The same as AS Roma but Juve lost the goal difference. Roma themselves will face a tough match against defending champions Napoli.
Inter themselves are stronger at the top of the table. With 61 points, the Nerazzurri are eight points ahead of AC Milan who are in second place.
In the fierce derby, both teams took turns to pressure. Inter coach Cristian Chivu overhauled the squad when he beat Sassuolo 5-0 last week by bringing in midfielder Nicolo Barella. However, Turkey national team captain Hakan Calhanoglu started the match by sitting on the bench.
When applying pressure, Inter managed to take the lead after defender Andrea Cambiasso made a suicide goal in the 17th minute. The goal started from Luis Henrique's kick who received a pass from striker Marcus Thuram. He then fired a shot that hit Cambiasso. As a result, the ball slid into the net and fooled goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.
In a position of being 1-0 behind, Juve immediately bounced back. They increased the attack to equalize. Weston McKennie's header, who greeted Kalulu's cross, could still be stopped by goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Likewise, Francisco Conceicao's shot also has not produced results.
After many failed attempts, Juve finally broke the deadlock. Cambiasso, who had previously scored an own goal, paid for his mistake by breaking into the Inter goal, which tied the score in the 26th minute.
It started with an attack built by McKennie from the left side of Inter's defense. He then delivered a cross that was missed by striker Jonathan David. The ball then rolled to the front of the goal and was received by Cambiasso. His shot also defeated Sommer.
During the 1-1 draw, an incident occurred that sparked controversy. Kalulu was judged to 'take' the leg of defender Alessandro Bastoni who was about to greet the ball. Only in fact there was no touch from both teams because Bastoni took the risk by diving. For Bastoni this is a gamble. If he is caught diving, he gets a second yellow card which then becomes a red card.
Fortunately for Bastoni but a pity for Kalulu. Referee Federico La Penna was fooled by Bastoni's action and gave Kalulu a second yellow card followed by a red card. His request for the referee to review the incident via VAR could not be fulfilled because he could not intervene in the second yellow card.
The referee's decision made the Juve camp angry. Even the club's director Giorgio Chiellini and Damien Comolli even approached the referee who was walking towards the locker room during the break and the score was 1-1. They insisted that there was no contact between the two players' feet because Bastoni was just rolling around.
In the second half, Inter and Juve continued to play openly. Even though playing with 10 people, Juve was still able to match Inter's game. It seems that if there were no red cards, La Vecchia Signora would have the chance to win the derby.
However, Inter then took advantage of that advantage. In the 76th minute, Pio Esposito managed to break into the Juve goal after receiving an assist from Federico Dimarco. The score finally changed to 2-1 for Inter.
Juve refused to surrender even though they were outnumbered. They still tried to equalize the score through offensive play. Their efforts bore fruit when midfielder Manuel Locatelli was able to break the deadlock in the 83rd minute. Receiving a cross from McKennie, he headed the ball into the corner of the goal to change the score to 2-2.
The match was expected to end in a draw. But suddenly Zielinski fired a shot that hit Locatelli and the ball slid sharply into the Juve goal in the 90th minute. Goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio couldn't do anything when he was silent when the ball crossed the goal line. The score changed to 3-2 for Inter and the match ended with that score.
The disappointing result and the controversial defeat made the Juve camp protest. Spalletti refused to attend the press conference after the match. He sent Chielli and Comolli to face the media.
"There is nothing more to say about football after what happened in this match," Chiellini said.
"There is a decision that is completely unacceptable. This is not a matter of whether this happened to us or others. But what is clear, since the match, the view on VAR has changed. Too many mistakes have occurred and that is unacceptable," he said.
According to Chiellini, league participants have actually urged that the referee's ability be improved. Even the former Juventus star said his party had asked for the referee to be a concern but was not addressed.
"I don't know if they have had training or not. What is clear is that the standard of Serie A referees is very bad. Remember we are not the first and certainly not the last. Previously [Daniele] De Rossi who protested and then [Gianpiero] Gasperini and [Antonio] Conte," said Chiellini.
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