Juventus boss Spalletti tells Cagliari's Pisacane 'I'll slap you' before double sending-off

Spalletti-Pisacane touchline row erupts after Juventus-Cagliari stalemate

Juventus were held to a goalless Serie A draw by Cagliari on Sunday, but the flashpoint of the contest came at the very end, as Juventus boss Luciano Spalletti was involved in a heated spat with Rossoblu coach Fabio Pisacane.

The two managers were sent off after nearly coming to blows, with surrounding staff forced to step in and separate them.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the roots of the confrontation lie in Spalletti's accusation that Pisacane and his team deliberately wasted time during the draw. When Pisacane touched his arm, the Juventus boss asked: “What are you doing?” Pisacane fired back: “No, what are you doing?”

That exchange escalated quickly, with Spalletti responding aggressively: “I’ll slap you.” The outburst forced Pisacane's assistant to intervene, and before the situation could boil over further, both managers were shown red cards.

The friction between the two coaches did not begin on the touchline. It traces back to Cagliari's win over Juventus in the second half of last season, a result that did not sit well with the Bianconeri. Spalletti had already referenced the clash openly in last week's pre-game press conference, saying: “Pisacane and Giulini deserve everything they’ve achieved recently, but not last year’s victory.”

Even in his post-game press conference, Spalletti made clear he was only praising Pisacane and his team for being good at wasting time — insisting, per the newspaper, that it wasn’t snide but simply a way to highlight their strengths. That justification, however, did not go down well with Cagliari, bringing the underlying friction into the public eye.