The world of football is no stranger to a maverick, but few come close to a man from Palermo who is capable of not only setting his house alight but the world also. Mario Balotelli, why always him? In this article, we would be looking at the most controversial things Balotelli ever did in his career.
The Clash With Jose Mourinho
It started with the time that he left Jose Mourinho fuming on the touchline in 2009. In a Champions League match against Rubin Kazan, Balotelli was booked in the first half, and Mourinho’s halftime team talk consisted of 14 minutes of chat directed solely at Balotelli. Mourinho later said, “I was spending 14 minutes speaking only to Mario. Mario, I cannot change you. I cannot make a change.
I don’t have a striker on the bench. Don’t touch anybody.”
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Balotelli lunged in on Christian Noboa and got his second yellow card, leaving Inter with no striker on the pitch.
To say that failed to find a winner, Marinho went on to say how funny it was to work with Balotelli, and that he could write a 200-page book on his time spent with the Italian.
Well, his time with Inter was very hit-and-miss, as he established himself as one of the best young players in Europe, but he also massively fell out with the fans and was even pictured with an AC Milan jersey, Inter’s biggest rivals.
Balotelli’s Unable to Put on a Bib?
The antics would continue at the age of 20, he signed for Manchester City for £24 million, but things only got more funny with the Italian.
In his first season with Manchester City, they were in the Europa League, where one of the most ridiculous moments of his career was caught on camera. In a game against Dynamo Kiev, footage was released of Mario Balotelli not knowing how to put on a bib. Balotelli tried for two minutes to get two different bibs on, and he wasn’t capable of doing so.
Now, this led to a confrontation with manager Roberto Mancini, who he’d have many run-ins with in his time in Manchester. Although, the season would be a success, as City ended their 35-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup, but the semi-final would be all about Mario.
After Yaya Touré scored to down City rivals Manchester United, Balotelli mocked United players and nearly caused a riot on the pitch, as well as an absolute head loss from Rio Ferdinand.
The Rift Between Mario and Mancini
Balotelli’s second season in Manchester wasn’t without incident either. It all started in preseason when Manchester City traveled to the States for their American tour. During a game against LA Galaxy, Balotelli was accused of disrespecting the opponents.
In the 28th minute, he was through on goal, and instead of producing a normal finish to make it 2-0, he tried a ridiculous bit of skill that saw the ball go wide. This led to outrage from Manchester City, with Mancini subbing him off straight away which saw them have a big argument on the touchline.
Mario Balotelli; The Fireworks Safety Ambassador
If any story sums up Balotelli, it’s this one. A few months later, Balotelli was made the ambassador of Manchester for fireworks safety. Now, this came with a big responsibility for the Italian, which included warning children about the dangers of fireworks.
Just a week prior, due to his lack of safety with fireworks almost led to the house being burnt down during a party at his mansion in Manchester. This went massive, as two fire crews were called out to his house and prevented his house from literally burning down. Balotelli came out later and said that it was his friends who let off the fireworks, but given his track record, who knows if that’s the truth?
The rest of the season would be highly successful, but Balotelli was, of course, in the headlines more often. Manchester City did go on to win the league that year, Balotelli getting his only Manchester City assist for their most famous goal of all time, Aguero’s league-winning goal on the final day.
Balotelli Doing Santa-Claus Duties
His third and final season for Manchester City was interesting. He played a lot less due to a falling out with Mancini again. But this is where the real interesting rumors start coming about. Now, there were rumors of Balotelli driving around Manchester just before Christmas and throwing wads of £5,000 out the window to homeless people. Which is absolutely incredible, if true.
How He Became Unwanted In Italy
Following his last season, Balotelli went on loan to Italy, but not back to Inter. He secured a loan signing with AC Milan, which only added fuel to the fire with the Inter fans who were not happy at the transfer. Upon arriving back in Italy, Balotelli was subject to racial abuse throughout the season. This must have been an extremely hard time for him.
He came out in an interview and revealed how alone he feels when he’s subject to racial abuse. He said “If it’s going to happen one more time, I’m going to leave the pitch because it’s not nice.” And this was a common theme throughout his career, as he consistently experienced racism throughout his time in Italy. So, despite being a very funny character, he’s definitely had his hardships.
Balotelli Back to England
After having a really tough year in Milan, he was back in the Premier League in an often-forgotten stint. He moved to Anfield to play for Liverpool, with a lot of pressure on his shoulders to fill the gap left by Luis Suárez in the summer.
It would quickly unravel that he wasn’t the right addition to the squad. Allegedly, six weeks in, one of the staff members of manager Brendan Rodgers revealed that Balotelli would never have the maturity to be able to play for the team. Mario was playing consistently up until December, he quickly fell out of favor with Rodgers.
Whilst the off-pitch antics would continue, not long after joining the Reds, he lost his driving license after going 110 mph down the motorway. And not long after moving into a mansion in Formby, Balotelli had to get the painters and decorators in, as he celebrated his move by having a big paintball fight inside the house.
More Controversial Moments From Balotelli
Again, one evening in Thornaby, Balotelli’s neighbors were awoken by what they thought was a Formula 1 car revving in his driveway. In reality, Mario and his pals had taken the Ferrari out around Formby and were just racing him well.
Following the conclusion of his move to Liverpool, Balotelli went back to Italy before making a move to Nice, where he quickly regained his form. And in this time, his antics seemed to calm down, until he produced one of the most legendary goal celebrations of all time.
In 2019, he made a move to Marseille and then to Brescia, before moving to Monza in 2020. And in March, he scored an unbelievable goal against Saint-Étienne. His celebration, going pitchside and grabbing his phone, creating an Instagram story, honestly, that’s just the most legendary thing ever seen.
Well, things would stay quiet again until 2023, when Balotelli would feature on TNT Sports as coverage of the Champions League final, collaborating alongside Rio Ferdinand, who he’d fallen out with years prior.
Despite the beef being years old, Balotelli was described as being a frosty character and came across very disinterested, with host Jake Humphrey seemingly fed up, saying live on air, “Hold on, we paid thousands for this guy, and his final comment is no comment.”
In a career that has been full of madness, we’re nearing the end of the Mario Balotelli show. As he currently plays in Turkey for second-division team Adana Demirspor, he was recently filmed letting off a firecracker in the middle of the changing room.
There’s many things that we can’t cover in a single page, from the time he went to an all-women’s prison just to check it out, to the time he was playing on his iPad on the substitutes’ bench while playing for Italy.
It’s fair to say that we’ve become very used to what a footballer is now, with their accounts being run by a PR team, but Mario Balotelli is one of a kind, and he features in an elite list of mad players like Eric Cantona, Diego Maradona, and Paul Gascoigne.
He may not have lived up to his full potential as a footballer, but as a character, he went above and beyond.
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