Atalanta’s Champions League campaign came to a crashing halt in spectacularly disastrous fashion, and at the center of it all was their captain, Rafael Toloi, delivering one of the most unintentionally hilarious moments of the tournament.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s men had already put themselves in a dire situation, trailing Club Brugge 2-1 from the first leg. What followed in the return leg was a first-half implosion of epic proportions, as the Belgian side stormed into a 3-0 lead before Atalanta even knew what hit them.
The night had all the makings of a European disasterclass—an early Chemsdine Talbi double and a Ferran Jutgla strike meant that by halftime, Atalanta needed nothing short of a miracle.
They did fight back in the second half, with Ademola Lookman pulling one back, but the Nigerian then proceeded to miss a crucial penalty, which all but sealed their fate.
Atalanta’s misery was already written in bold letters, but Rafael Toloi somehow found a way to underline it in red. And not just metaphorically. In the 87th minute, with the game and Atalanta’s European hopes long gone, the club captain had a full-on meltdown.
In an attempt to waste more time when Toloi was ready to take a throw in, an unnecessary nudge from Brugge’s Maxim De Cuyper was enough to send Toloi into a rage.
His first attempt at retaliation? Throwing the ball at De Cuyper. Well, at least that was the plan—except the ball slipped right out of his hand, and in a moment straight out of slapstick comedy, he lost his balance and fell right on his face.
That should’ve been the end of it—a moment of lost temper and a bit of embarrassment. Instead, Toloi doubled down. Determined to volleyball spike the ball into Cuyper’s head, he got right back up, still barely in control of his balance, trying to grab the ball but failing to get a grip of it.
“No grip on the ball and no grip on himself,” commented a user on X.
You’d think it’d end there; well, you’d be wrong! Toloi did what any completely rational, level-headed captain would do—he charged at De Cuyper, shoved him from behind, and bundled him to the floor. Footballing god’s weren’t on Toloi’s side that night, as he too took a fall once again after bringing De Cuyper down.
Referee Felix Zwayer had seen enough. Out came the red card, and Toloi, fuming, had to be held back by his teammates as he protested. Zwayer’s decision was likely in Toloi’s best interest, preventing him from embarrassing himself any further.
If Atalanta’s performance had already been tragic, Toloi’s antics turned it into outright comedy. A captain losing his head so spectacularly is a rarity in football, and fans wasted no time making a mockery of the situation online.
“I really can’t get over the Toloi crash out. one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while,” said one fan while another added: “Wtf is Rafael Toloi doing.”
One user posted a clip of an MMA figher chasing his opponent in a cage, captioning it: “Que hace Toloi tú,” which translates to ‘What are you doing Toloi?’ in Spanish.
Another fan hilariously paired the popular Roy Keane clip to sum up his feelings about the incident:
After the game, manager Gasperini was far from amused. “That was an ugly incident, and we must never lose our heads,” he said, making it clear that he was less than impressed with his captain’s antics.
