Football: Balotelli returns to Serie A in Genoa, 4 years later

Mario Balotelli, surprise recruit from Genoa at the end of October, returned to Serie A four years after his last appearance. He played a few minutes in his club’s 1-0 success at Parma on Monday.

“Super Mario”, aged 34, started on the bench before making his debut in the 86th minute while his team, struggling in the standings, led 1-0 after a goal from Pinamonti. The whimsical Italian striker, who passed through Sion, had not played an Italian elite match for 1701 days.

Balotelli, who notably also played for the two Milan clubs (Inter and AC Milan), Manchester City, Liverpool and Nice among others, only spent eight minutes on the pitch. He had time to receive a yellow card for a foul at the entrance to the penalty area.

Without a club since last June and his departure from the Turkish club Adana Demirspor, the native of Palermo was recruited on October 27 to compensate for the injury-related absence of two Genoa attackers, Vitinha and Junior Messias. Thanks to its success in Parma, Genoa, coached by ex-Italian international Alberto Gilardino, leaves the red zone and climbs four places to 17th place in the ranking.

ATS

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