Balotelli on his last life at Inter
The Italian youngster came on as a substitute as Diego Milito left the field with cramp in the closing stages of the Nerazzurri’s impressive 3-1 win over holders Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final first leg.
But he infuriated the home fans, first giving away possession unnecessarily and then by making a provocative gesture towards them after a wayward shot.
At the end of the game, Balotelli threw his Inter shirt to the floor in disgust and left the pitch without joining in with the rest of the team’s celebrations.
For many an Inter fan, this was the final straw after numerous outbursts from the player, but Mourinho has yet to give up on the 19-year-old, despite his clear anger at yet another unsavoury incident.
“I am sorry that the fans were like that with Balotelli,” said the Portuguese. “I always want my fans to be with my players right to the end. But, in the end, I can understand them because they saw the same thing as me.
“They saw a team dead on its feet, Milito left the field with cramp, (Goran) Pandev left the field with cramp. I put (Cristian) Chivu on and he gave his all, I put (Dejan) Stankovic on and he gave his all. Then Mario with this attitude, and all of you (the press), or almost all of you, say it’s normal but then there’s this idiot coach who says it isn’t normal.
“It’s the second most important match in football (after the final) and everyone goes off dead, but one player could have done more to help his team which was struggling, had lost Maicon and was under intense pressure from Barcelona.
“We all wanted more from him, then they whistled him and he did this with the shirt. We’ll play on Saturday and he’ll play, no problem with that because we need to rest others.
“He needs to show that he wants to be with us and has understood how to play football and that he should leave the pitch dead. Of course he’s not going home dead because he didn’t run much.”
Balotelli has already infuriated club bosses by declaring himself an AC Milan fan and wearing a Rossoneri shirt for a TV gag.
“Nearly all of you for the last two years have been saying that what he does is normal,” Mourinho said.
“And then there is just this idiot of a coach who says it is not normal. The coach takes all the flak – I can’t motivate him, I can’t educate him, this or that, next year it’s best if Mourinho goes and not Balotelli.
“And then, in the second most important match in the world at club football level, all of my team leave the field dead and one player could have done a little bit more to help the team who was in danger.
“The fans wanted more, his team-mates wanted more, and he did not give it.
“And then that thing with his shirt. Full stop.”
But, while Mourinho was quick to draw a line under the incident, he will hang out yet another olive branch to the Italy Under-21 international against Atalanta on Saturday – and he hopes the fans will do too.
“On Saturday we have another game, and he will play,” said the 47-year-old. “It is not a problem for me and I expect the fans to give him the chance to demonstrate that he is with us and can help the team and that he has learned today that to play football at the highest level, you have to play in a certain manner.”
However Barca’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic has added a new twist to the row by claiming Marco Materazzi attacked Balotelli after Tuesday’s game.
“I saw that Materazzi was attacking him in the players’ tunnel and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ibrahimovic said. “If I were him, I’d have left Mario alone, but Materazzi was attacking him and I was stunned. If Materazzi had attacked me like that, I would’ve decked him in a second!
“Materazzi was causing all sorts of trouble and in the Barcelona locker room we were amazed, all talking about it. A player should be proud after a win, not chase down a 19-year-old to berate him.”
Inter general manager Ernesto Paolillo has vowed to punish Balotelli for his disrespectful gesture in throwing away his shirt.
“Balotelli’s gesture was terrible. Just terrible,” said Paolillo. “It is something we are going to have to discuss. Will he be punished? Absolutely, yes.”
Inter duo Dejan Stankovic and captain Javier Zanetti criticised Balotelli’s attitude.
“What do I think of Balotelli, how much time have you got? You need to see what is in his head, he’s like a child,” said Stankovic.
Zanetti said: “Mario needs to concentrate on doing what he can do on the pitch, he can’t allow himself to behave this way.”
Mourinho also diffused a rumoured row with Xavi in the tunnel after the game. The Portuguese is reported to have labelled the Barca midfielder a bad loser after he criticised the referee on the way into the dressing room and, although Mourinho neither confirmed nor denied that, he hinted something along those lines was said.
“I think it is very hard to lose, especially for somebody not used to losing,” he explained.
“Even I am like this. It is the characteristic of somebody who almost always wins. For a team which is used to always winning, it is not easy. But this is football.
“I love Xavi and can never have any problem with him. I’ve known him for so long and love him. When I went to salute him in the tunnel at the end, he spoke about the referee and I said he must have been talking about the ref (Tom Henning) Ovrebo from Chelsea-Barcelona last season, not this game. But there can never be a problem between us. He is fantastic.”
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