BeIN Sports pundit Gianfranco Zola has recalled the crazy incident last season where Kepa Arrizabalaga refused to be substituted during the League Cup final against Manchester City. The Spaniard was asked to come off the field to be replaced with Willy Caballero before the penalty shoot-out but he declined to do so much to the frustration of manager Maurizio Sarri and assistant Zola.
When asked to recall on the incident, Zola acknowledged that he was surprised with the reaction from the goalkeeper, who was deemed to be carrying a minor injury, he said: "We were going to make the change, he explained. It wasn’t pre-arranged but we saw the day before he was injured, so we thought it was the injury coming back and we saw an opportunity because Caballero knows the Manchester City players so he can also be a good thing; simple as that. It was obviously not an easy situation to deal with. We could not believe it, we were speechless, we kept telling him to come off but he didn’t come."