Article by Adrian Jitea – Published Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 9:28 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 9:29 p.m.
Alessandro Melli (56), former Parma, Sampdoria and Milan striker, criticized the way PSG and Bayern approached the Champions League semi-final at the Parc des Princes, won 5-4 by the French. Former great midfielder Clarence Seedorf (50 years old) kept his ison.
Most pundits and football fans bowed to the performance that Luis Enrique and Vincent Kompany's men gave.
Alessandro Melli, former striker at Parma, Milan or Sampdoria, with two goals in the first representative of Italy, made a discordant note.
Alessandro Melli, after PSG – Bayern: “This football makes me sick”
“I may be going against the grain, but between VAR and a game that no longer knows defending, marking and filtering in midfield, this football literally makes me nauseous…
It's crap. You know who likes this kind of football? TV, commentators and fans who are fed up with seeing goals but don't understand anything about this game. Today's football has become the new NBA.” Melli opined, quoted by Sportal.rs.
Alessandro Melli, important footballer in the history of Parma / PHOTO: GettyImages
The statement of the former striker was intensely debated in Italy. Melli came back with a series of explanations:
I didn't say I like Italian football. Of course, between Milan – Juventus and PSG – Bayern, I would choose the second match a thousand times. I just wanted to say that with this trend, where there is basically no defending culture anymore, and with the rules and VAR changing situations, we will end up seeing games that end 7-5 or 6-6, if not even more…
I compared this mentality to NBA basketball, where the spectacle often comes at the expense of the result, because in America they have such a culture. Once upon a time, scoring a goal was hard, difficult, complicated work. There was no lack of top strikers during my time either.
But to score a goal, you had to sweat, even the greatest champions had to make a huge effort. Today, it creates the impression that every action can be a potential goal… This certainly helps the televisions to sell the product better, and implicitly the clubs to sell tickets at absurd prices
– Alessandro Melli
Seedorf approves of Melli
Clarence Seedorf, the former star of AC Milan or Real Madrid, now a TV analyst, had an identical view of the situation.
“Ask the goalkeepers if they're happy with the result. This season we've seen Arsenal win a lot of games without conceding a goal. If there's a team that can win the Champions League, it's Arsenal.” Seedorf said.
Arsenal face Atletico Madrid in the other Champions League semi-final.
