No more dancing or jokes

This time there are no dancing or jokes. On the other side of the line, Alejandro 'Papu' Gómez doesn't feel guilty even if they point him out. But he is distressed. "I don't go on the field looking at who I have in front of me. I jumped with my knee and hit Lucas. This is football, it was a foul, nothing more; unfortunately, it happened to Biglia who was facing away. They didn't even give me a yellow card. I'm very sorry for the situation, I feel it a lot for Lucas because I never intended to harm him. But who can assume that!" he tells La Nación over the phone, when it's almost midnight in Bergamo, about the foul against his teammate.

It wasn't just any Sunday. It wasn't just any match they played for the 37th and penultimate round of the Serie A between Atalanta and Milan. They were fighting for the last European spot for next season's cups. Milan, sixth with 61 points, currently secures the final spot for the Europa League; Atalanta, seventh with 60, still goes to the pre-Europa League. If 'Papu' Gómez's team won, they would snatch that place -and the spot- from Gennaro Gattuso's team. For Biglia, it was especially important: in record time, after 22 days, he was playing again after fracturing his lumbar vertebrae 1 and 2. And with the World Cup looming in five weeks.

There's a memory worth mentioning to explain the effort Biglia made. When Colombian player Camilo Zúñiga ended Neymar's dream in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Brazil -a knee to the back caused him a fracture to his third lumbar vertebra-, it took the Brazilian superstar 46 days to return to the field.

No unresolved issues or friction. Before the match, Biglia and 'Papu' Gómez greeted each other warmly and shook hands. They played together for the national team. After the hit, Biglia got up and vehemently insulted his compatriot. Astonished, unable to understand the action. He finished the first half and didn't return to the field after halftime. He was replaced by Riccardo Montolivo. Biglia and 'Papu' Gómez didn't cross paths again. "I didn't see Lucas again because when the first half ended, there was a commotion," Gómez adds.

The game was intense. In the second half, the visitors took the lead with a goal from Franck Yannick Kessie, and in injury time, Andrea Masiello equalized 1-1. "It was a clash with many fouls. I almost got broken and it should have been a straight red card for the opponent. If he catches me with a planted foot, he breaks me," 'Papu' Gómez says. It's true. Montolivo himself, who replaced Biglia, seemed to enter with a vengeful plan because in the 75th minute, he crossed paths with the former Arsenal and San Lorenzo midfielder with vicious violence. Referee Marco Guida instantly sent him off.

Biglia watched the match from the dressing room. With pain in the affected area, of course, but even angrier. The hit was exactly in the same spot as the double fracture. It's impossible not to worry when tomorrow the national team coach, Jorge Sampaoli, will announce the list of 35 pre-selected for the World Cup in Russia. After so much effort, even up to three sessions of exercises and daily training to beat the clock, Biglia is once again besieged by uncertainty.

(La Nación)