After the scare, the relief. Monza footballer Pablo Mari, has had successful surgery on his back muscles. The Spaniard has been in Niguarda hospital since Thursday night after being the victim of an attack by a 46-year-old man who stabbed him in the back while he was in the shopping centre in Assago, south Milan.

The defender is expected to be discharged in three days, but will not return to the field until January. According to Niguarda's director of general surgery Osvaldo Chiara, it was his musculature that saved the footballer: "The muscle mass is such that the knife did not reach the lung, if it had, the situation could have been much more risky." Monza's managing director Adriano Galliani (78) is of the same opinion: "If he didn't have athletic muscles, the knife would probably have sunk deeper."

In the meantime, a backstory on the assault has emerged: the 46-year-old attacker was stopped and disarmed by former Inter defender Massimo Tarantino (51). The former footballer, now sports manager, described the situation as follows: "He was shouting, just shouting," before downplaying what he had done: "Me, a hero? I didn't do anything." Sadly, Italian police have confirmed a 47-year-old was killed in the attack.

Following the incident, Galliani himself stated that he had requested the postponement of the next match, scheduled against Bologna: "The team is in shock, we have asked the Lega for the postponement of the match against Bologna on Monday." Shortly after leaving hospital, the Brianza manager also spoke about the team's reaction to what happened to Mari: "We have a cohesive, united dressing room, where everyone is a friend. Last night everyone was crying, Pessina cried for half an hour."