In the days following Pierre Kalulu’s controversial sending off against Inter Milan last weekend, the overwhelming consensus was that Juventus and the Frenchman had been unjustly impacted by the decisions of Federico La Penna. It went so far as Italy’s refereeing chief, Gianluca Rocchi, admitting that La Penna got the call wrong and that Juventus shouldn’t have seen Kalulu sent off in the 42nd minute of the Derby d’Italia loss at San Siro.
So, with all that being said, you’d think Juve might get a reprieve
considering an organization that isn’t exactly known for its self-awareness actually admitted that they got things, right?
Well, not so fast, my friends.
Early Friday, reports came out that Juventus had officially appealed Kalulu’s suspension so that he could potentially be available for Saturday’s key home fixture against Como, the team that is directly behind the Bianconeri in the Serie A standings. However, it didn’t take long for word to come out that a decision had been made by the FIGC, with Italian news agency ANSA reporting that Juve’s request for Kalulu’s one-game suspension to be overturned had been denied and he will in fact miss out on Como’s visit to Turin this weekend.
So now we know for sure that Juventus will not have any natural right backs to play against Como considering Kalulu’s suspension has been upheld on appeal and the man who was brought in to be his backup, Emil Holm, is out until March after picking up a muscle injury in that same Derby d’Italia loss to Inter.
So, for a defense that will also be without Gleison Bremer after he came off in the first half of Tuesday’s loss to Galatasaray — and how things fell apart without the big Brazilian on the field — being even the more short-handed against a Como side that will be without its talented young No. 10, Nico Paz, is far from a good thing to see happen.
It could very well result in a formation shift from Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti, who has almost exclusively used a four-man backline since the calendar turned over to 2026.
Regarding the two yellow cards Kalulu received against Inter and Juventus’ decision to appeal his suspension, Spalletti said the following during his pre-match press conference: “It’s a necessary step because we are talking about two clear injustices that everyone was forced to acknowledge. In my opinion, the club did the right thing.”
This will be the first game Kalulu has not started for Juventus all season, with him having previously played every minute of every game prior to being sent off against Inter last weekend.
