Salim Lamrani, Leeds boss Bielsa’s right-hand man, gave his verdict on the Chelsea incident.
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa’s assistant and translator Salim Lamrani has taken to Twitter to defend Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri after a bizarre incident that marred the League Cup final on Sunday.
With the scoreline remaining 0-0 for the entire 120 minutes, Sarri wanted to bring on goalkeeper Willy Caballero to face his former side – meaning Kepa Arrizabalaga would have to go off.
But the latter refused to do so, remonstrating with the Chelsea bench which saw both Sarri and Gianfranco Zola seething. Sarri begrudgingly backed down, stormed down the Wembley tunnel, before returning for the shootout.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City went on to win, with Kepa saving only one of five penalties. Lamrani reacted on Twitter to the incident, putting aside Leeds and Chelsea rivalries to defend former Napoli manager Sarri.
“Ti vogliamo bene” is translated as “we love you”.
Kepa, 24, has managed 35 league and cup appearances for Chelsea since his move from Athletic Bilbao, keeping 17 clean sheets and conceding just 35 goals. Eight of those have been against City.
Lamrani is known for his wide-ranging knowledge on football as well as the tough job of translating Bielsa’s press conferences, and has worked in football since accompanying Bielsa in September 2017 at French Ligue 1 side Lille.
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