Manuel Locatelli never has been one to hold back the tears. He sobbed after he scored his first Serie A goal back in 2016, when he became a European champion with Italy in 2021 and again when injury forced him out of a game against Inter last year. As Giorgio Chiellini brought down the curtain on his own 17 seasons at Juventus, he noted: “Locatelli has been crying since yesterday. I told him to stop.”
It happened again yesterday, Locatelli weeping into the arms of Daniele Rugani after delivering the Bianconeri a win over his former club Milan at San Siro. Juventus had struggled early on against opponents who began the weekend on top of the Serie A table, before a red card to Malick Thiaw on the brink of half-time shifted the balance in their favour. Locatelli finally broke the deadlock with a deflected strike in the 63rd minute.
