MILAN, Italy, Oct 30 – Monza coach Raffaele Palladino said Sunday it was a miracle that on-loan Arsenal footballer Pablo Mari was not more seriously hurt after being stabbed during a deadly knife attack in an Italian supermarket.
The 29-year-old Spanish defender, who was loaned to Serie A side Monza this summer, was discharged from Milan’s Niguarda hospital on Sunday following surgery on Friday for back wounds suffered while shopping with his wife and son the previous evening.
Monza said earlier on Sunday that Mari “has returned home and will now begin a period of complete rest” after suffering his injuries in an attack in which one man was killed.
“It’s been a bad and good week,” Palladino told reporters on Sunday.
“What happened to Pablo was a miracle, in that he wasn’t badly hurt. We’re aware that it could have been a lot worse than it was.”
Monza chief executive Adriano Galliani had asked that Monday’s match with Bologna be postponed but the fixture will be played and Palladino’s team will wear a special shirt with the message “Come back soon Pablo”.
Palladino added: “Our job is to go out on the pitch and play, and give everything, above all for Pablo and what happened to him.”
Gabriel Martinelli paid tribute to Pablo Mari after scoring against Nottingham Forest © AFP / Ian Kington
Mari was one of several people attacked in a Carrefour in Assago, on the outskirts of Milan in northern Italy, by a man apparently suffering from psychological problems who killed an employee from the supermarket after grabbing a knife from a shelf.
Four other people were hurt by a 46-year-old Italian who was arrested by police, shortly after being disarmed by former Napoli and Inter Milan defender Massimo Tarantino.
Brazil international Gabriel Martinelli held up Mari’s Arsenal shirt after scoring the opening goal for the Gunners in Sunday’s 5-0 hammering of Nottingham Forest.
