Atalanta's Ademola Lookman is not the only player to against his coach's penalty wishes this week
Serie A witnessed a penalty dispute on Friday night as Udinese’s Lorenzo Lucca ignored team orders and forcefully claimed a spot-kick during their clash against Lecce.
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This comes just days after Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman was publicly criticised by Gian Piero Gasperini for taking and missing a penalty in their Champions League exit against Club Brugge.
Chaos as Udinese players turn on Lucca
Lucca, who was not the designated penalty taker, sparked outrage among his teammates when he refused to let Florian Thauvin, the captain and official taker, step up.
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His stubbornness led to a heated altercation, with Jaka Bijol physically trying to remove him from the spot while Alexis Sánchez, Oumar Solet, and others joined the protests.
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18:29 - 17.02.2025
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Even Lecce players grew frustrated as the incident delayed the game, but in the end, Lucca confidently smashed the penalty into the top corner.
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However, his defiance came at a cost—Udinese coach Kosta Runjaic immediately substituted him in the 36th minute, sending a strong message that team discipline comes first.
Udinese incident compared to Gasperini vs Lookman
Lucca’s antics have drawn comparisons to Lookman’s recent penalty row, where the Nigerian forward took a crucial spot-kick despite Mateo Retegui and Charles De Ketelaere being available.
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His miss proved costly as Atalanta crashed out of the Champions League, prompting a brutal reaction from Gasperini, who declared, “Lookman is one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen.”
Lookman eventually released a statement of his own, refuting Gasperini’s version of events claiming that designated penalty taker Retegui had instructed him to take the responsibility of the crucial spot kick.
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With Serie A clubs seeing multiple incidents of players deciding on penalty duties against their managers’ wishes, fabs can only wonder which team will experience a similar scenario.