It was the 41st minute when Bastoni recklessly charged at Amar Memiฤ as the last defensive player. Referee Turpin did not hesitate for a second and showed the Italian a direct red card. With his head bowed, aware of what he had done, Bastoni had to leave the field, leaving his team in the lurch and instantly becoming the absolute tragic figure of his nation.
However, what gives this dismissal a special, almost cinematic dimension is a great coincidence or perhaps pure karma.
Just a few weeks earlier, in the major Serie A derby between Inter and Juventus, Bastoni was at the center of a huge scandal. At that time, through shameful simulation, he provoked the sending-off of Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu. To make matters worse, television cameras caught him, without a shred of shame or sportsmanship, getting in the opponent's face and celebrating his red card.
The Italian public did not forgive him for this unsportsmanlike move. In the days following the derby, Bastoni was crucified in the media. Condemnations poured in from all sides, and many prominent journalists and fans believed such behavior tarnished the reputation of the Azzurri and called for his expulsion from the national team.
How far he had fallen in the public eye was best seen in the recent Milan derby, where with absolutely every touch of the ball, he endured constant whistles from the stands.
The pressure clearly broke him, and justice caught up with him where he perhaps least expected it. Everything he had inflicted upon Kalulu came back to haunt him in the heated cauldron of Zenica.
The circle closed in the 41st minute when Kalulu was also sent off, and Bastoni became the tragic figure of the nation, seemingly ending his career at ฤiลพmi, given that he is expected to move to Barcelona in the summer.