14 March 2024 , 07:07
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Marcus Thuram and Stefan Savic were pictured recreating one of the iconic football moments as the Inter Milan star appeared to squeeze his opponent's balls.
Such an image involving Vinnie Jones and Paul Gascoigne has stood the test of time and now we have ourselves a modern-day equivalent. Inter Milan travelled to Atletico Madrid for the second leg of their Champions League tie, eventually losing on penalties.
In the 100th minute Atletico were defending a throw and, as Savic attempted to get tight to his man, Thuram reached down and had a perfect aim as he delivered a squeeze that saw the Montenegrin defender hit the deck - unlike Gazza who simply smiled all those years ago.
Nowadays, with VAR in place, the incident was reviewed but Thuram escaped without any punishment before he was substituted. Savic ultimately had the last laugh as Atletico came from 1-0 down to score twice and force the shootout with Inter missing on three occasions.
The defender said of the game in general: "It is. dream night for us. If I wasn't on the pitch I'd have loved to be in the stands to watch this game. It was an incredible game, almost like a final. I'm so happy because we were in a difficult situation and no one believed in us except for the fans. The boss said before the game that we needed to be ready because it would be a long night."
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Savic though will now be part of another legendary image with Jones and Gascoigne's encounter coming way back in 1988. Jones has previously revealed that his infamous squeeze was motivated by fear of being embarrassed by Gascoigne, who was at the peak of his powers.
Newcastle's Paul Gascoigne was subjected to a sly grab from Vinnie Jones in 1988 (Daily Mirror)
Marcus Thuram grabbed Stefan Savic in a sensitive areaHe said: "I thought: 'I could be the laughing stock of this game. What if he scores four goals, what if he runs riot?' Something snapped in me... I stretched in the dressing room and I am building up and building up and I thought 'when I see him, I'm going to kill him'."
The ex-Wimbledon star has also added: "We were fighting to get in and he started jostling as well and you said something about 'how much are they paying you for this, are you getting £100 for this today?' That is when I reached down. I grabbed it and it was just spot on! There weren't no fiddling about... I just grabbed it and didn't let go."
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