Claudio Ranieri, visibly losing his usual composure, became furious during the post-match interview with Dazn. He ultimately abandoned the interview following a heated exchange with referee expert Luca Marelli.
“I don`t know if Champions League qualification is still feasible after tonight, but we will play as we always have, fighting until the end,” the Giallorossi coach stated initially. “We know Atalanta`s strength and intensity; many compliments to them. However, I wanted to know if the penalty (the one on Koné, which was given and then disallowed after VAR review) was there or not. They always told us that VAR only intervenes if there`s a clear error. Here, you can clearly see that Pasalic mistimes his challenge and hits my player`s knee. You can`t have different interpretations; there`s certainly a disparity in judgment. That is a penalty. If the referee gives it, then VAR shouldn`t intervene; that`s what we`ve been told. Congratulations to Atalanta, but also to my players. I`m not arguing whether it`s a penalty or not, but whether VAR *should* intervene. We accept everything, but for sporting justice, we want to know why it intervened. How can you say that`s not a penalty?” Ranieri exclaimed before prematurely leaving the interview.
Following the incident, AS Roma later announced that no other club personnel would be speaking to the media.