Ranieri caught up in Chinese storm

The Old Lady lost 2-1 to Lazio in the first-leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final, with the ex-Chelsea manager hitting out at, referee, Paolo Tagliavento, accusing him of being "Chinese" for being too strict on his side.

"I did not like the entire direction of the match. I found the official was tough with us, on the field it seemed as if he was Chinese, as it was always yellow cards with us," he told Rai.

However, the comments caused deep offence in the Far East, leading the country's largest sport newspaper, Titan, to demand an apology from the Italian.

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Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.