Atalanta were furious with the early dismissal of Jakub Maehle in defeat to Sassuolo.

Maehle was at first booked for the foul on Domenico Berardi, then the referee changed his decision to a straight red card following a VAR check. Luis Muriel was later sent off in injury time.

La Dea coach Gian Piero Gasperini refused to speak to the media after the game, leaving duties to director Umberto Marino.

He said, “At this moment, the climate is certainly not calm. We saw the ghosts of last season, when we had 12-13 incidents in the second half of the season that influenced our run towards Europe. We were right, nobody told us at the time whether it was right or not, but they proved to be decisive.

“I think things were improving this season with the referees, realising the tackle has its place in football. This felt like two steps backwards. In general, there were too many yellow cards, too many stoppages.

“We talked only two weeks ago about this and our coach said that football is dynamic and needs to be supported. There was a similar situation shown on the video, where a Spezia player I think went sliding in on a Roma player. That was all about whether it was a foul or not a foul. Here, the referee judged it in front of him and the VAR called him over for no reason.

“You cannot call that a clear and obvious error. Our anger is because there is a past to this, the 2021-22 season damaged us badly, and we saw similar situations today. We would like to continue the approach to refereeing that was in the first half of this season. We have always criticised the penalties and cards awarded for tiny touches, slight grazes, etc.

“Referees can make mistakes, but I would like the general approach to be confirmed."