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‘Our players were crying’ – Monza president Adriano Galliani asks for Serie A match with Bologna to be postponed after Arsenal loanee Pablo Mari was stabbed with squad in state of shock
Monza president Adriano Galliani has announced he has requested Monday's Serie A match with Bologna to be postponed after Pablo Mari was stabbed.
The 78-year-old revealed the squad were in tears after the Arsenal loanee was injured on Thursday in a frenzied knife attack near Milan.
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Mari has stated he is 'lucky' to be alive after the terrifying ordeal, which saw ex-Inter Milan and Napoli ace Massimo Tarantino apprehend the knifeman.
The 29-year-old was one of six people stabbed in a Carrefour supermarket on the outskirts of Milan, which tragically left one dead.
Spanish centre-back Mari underwent successful surgery to reconstruct two injured muscles on Friday, which will keep him out of action for at least two months.
As a result of the incident, Galliani has called for Monza's upcoming Serie A game to be pushed back with the squad in a state of shock.
He told Gazzetta dello Sport: "I'm happy with the outcome of the intervention, but we [have] asked to postpone the next championship match.
"Last night our players were crying, I spoke to [midfielder and captain Matteo] Pessina on the phone for half an hour.
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"The first news we received it was terrible. We only knew that Pablo had been stabbed, then luckily the alarm went off.
"The boys insisted on coming to the hospital yesterday, they wanted to greet Mari and be close to him in a complicated moment.
"The response of the league, for now, has not yet arrived.
"The boys are in shock. We do not know if our request will be accepted or not".
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Mari has been a key player for the newly-promoted side since joining on loan from the Gunners, where he has appeared in eight Italian top-flight matches.
Galliani also revealed how Mari told him he is ready to report for training on Monday after he visited the Arsenal ace in hospital on Thursday night.
He said: "Pablo is an amazing guy. He had the strength to joke and tell me that he will be back in training on Monday.
“I brought him greetings from [club president Silvio] Berlusconi and everyone else.
"His teammates wanted to come here but obviously it was not possible.”