Mario Balotelli takes revenge on Besiktas coach Sergen Yalcin with a celebration

Mario Balotelli, who is currently storming for Adana Demirspor in the Turkish Süper Lig, mocked Besiktas coach Sergen Yalcin after his goal on Tuesday. The background is an eight year old incident.

Besiktas was already leading the game 3-0, but gave up the lead and had to be content with a 3: 3 in the end. Balotelli scored in the 79th minute to make it 2: 3. After his goal he ran towards Yalcin and pointed to his head. He was referring to Yalcin’s earlier statements that the Italian had “no brain”.

The background is an incident from 2013, when Balotelli was still playing for Manchester City and tried to get a heel shot into the goal in a preparation game against LA Galaxy. However, that went mercilessly wrong. The then city coach Roberto Mancini was so angry that he immediately took Balotelli out of the game.

Yalcin, in turn, who was working as a TV expert at the time, said of Balotelli: “He has no brain. If I were in Mancini’s place, I would fire him!”

After the 3: 3, the Besiktas coach commented on Balotelli’s gesture and said it could be related to the fact that the Italian once did not move to Besiktas. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a player do something like this with a coach. I couldn’t understand why he did that. Maybe it’s because he didn’t go to Besiktas last year. It shows his Personality.”

Balotelli vs. Yalcin: “We have brains”

Murat Sancak, President of Adana Demirspor, was not impressed either: “I wish it hadn’t happened. Both Sergen Yalcin’s comments and what Balotelli did were wrong.”

Balotelli posted the following in his Instagram story after the game: “We have brains and, above all, we have balls and hearts. A very big heart and we are proud of it.”