Acerbi, Barça's chaotic executioner: "saved" by cancer, accused of racism, and with tattoos from an animated film.

In the 92nd minute, seconds before the disaster, no Barcelona fan would have believed that in their sleepless nights, Alex the lion, Gloria the hippopotamus, or Julien the lemur king would appear, much less the leader of the wacky penguins, the ones to blame for everything. At that point in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Inter, with the score at 2-3, the Barça fans weren't looking for a break, just a break. But Italian defender Francesco Acerbi appeared in the six-yard box, got ahead of Ronald Araujo, scored the goal that sent the game into extra time, and celebrated with his tattoos unveiled. Wings on his back, a million phrases everywhere, and, amid the amalgam of ink on his body, the characters from Madagascar, the DreamWorks animated film that triumphed in 2005. Delirious youth.

Acerbi was nicknamed "Leone." At one point, he wanted to get tattoos of several famous lions, from Mufasa to Alex, and one character led to another, no one quite knows why. The reasons for the absence of Marty the zebra and Melman the giraffe, like so many other Acerbi pieces, are also unknown.

A footballer as unique as he is controversial, as exemplary as he is criticizable. That this Tuesday, at 37 years old, he scored his first European goal, a goal for the ages, is just one episode in a life well lived.

The death of his father and cancer

Trained at Brescia and Pavia, Acerbi spent his youth on the brink of amateurism in Italy, even playing in Serie D, and didn't make his Serie A debut until he was 23. A pure Azzurri center-back, tough and good in the air, his character and left foot took him from Chievo to Milan, but the elite came looking for him at the worst possible time. Four months before becoming a Rossoneri in 2012, his father died, and with the loss, he fell into alcoholism.

"I didn't respect myself, my work, or those who paid me. I often arrived at training tipsy, still reeling from the effects of alcohol. Physically, I felt fine because I've always been strong. Just getting some sleep was enough to perform," he confessed about that time in an interview with L'Ultimo Uomo magazine. Fortunately, medicine rescued him, although it wasn't a detox treatment, but rather chemotherapy.

After failing at Milan, he was transferred to Sassuolo, and a medical examination found he had testicular cancer. He underwent surgery and was able to play a few weeks later, but a relapse forced him to stop for months and, then, to rethink his career, his addictions, his life.

"Cancer was my luck. I thank God for having it. I discovered I was ill in July 2013, right after arriving at Sassuolo. I had surgery and was still behaving like an unprofessional off the pitch. Fortunately, someone up there loved me and sent the illness back to me. Without it, it would have ended very badly. No one would have saved me. Without the illness, I would have ended up playing in Serie B or, perhaps, I would have retired. I'm satisfied with the person I've become despite all my shortcomings," the player who, after returning to the football pitch, had already begun a linear rise told the same outlet.

Out of the selection

A starter at Sassuolo until making his international debut for Italy, he was signed by Simone Inzaghi 's Lazio in 2018, celebrated his first title - the Coppa Italia that season - and in 2022 joined Inzaghi at Inter. Already a regular in the Italy side that won Euro 2021, although a substitute for Bonucci and Chiellini , last year he was involved in a controversy that temporarily kept him out of the squad.

Napoli defender Juan Jesus claimed he had received racist insults from him ("He told me to go black, you're just a black man"), although weeks later Acerbi was not punished due to lack of evidence. This Tuesday, in the second leg of the semifinal against Barcelona, ​​after stopping several Barça attacks, facing off with Iñigo Martínez and anyone else in front of him for over 90 minutes, he scored the goal of his life. The memory of his ideal physique will forever remain with Barça fans.