Daniel Maldini's Weekend: From Heroic Penalty to Car Crash
Daniel Maldini’s weekend swung from heroics to havoc in a matter of hours.
On Saturday in Bergamo, the Cagliari forward had been the calmest man in the stadium, burying the decisive penalty in a win over Atalanta. By early Sunday morning, at around 5:15 a.m. in Milan, he was at the centre of a frightening three-car collision at the junction of Via Tolentino and Via Francesco Caracciolo.
From penalty spot to blue lights
The crash began with two vehicles colliding in the quiet dawn traffic before the force of the impact sent one of them into a parked Mercedes SUV in a residents’ bay. Sirens quickly cut through the silence. Emergency services dispatched three ambulances and a medical car to the scene.
Six people suffered minor injuries. Five were taken to hospital for checks. Among them, Maldini, transported to Fatebenefratelli Hospital as a precaution.
His arrival was treated seriously — he was admitted with a code blue in the emergency room — but the concern eased quickly.
“After a brief checkup with a code blue at the emergency room, Daniel was immediately released and returned home. He is in good health,” his lawyer, Danilo Buongiorno, said. “Daniel is fine and has not suffered any injuries, let alone serious ones.”
Police piecing it together
Investigators are now working through the sequence of events. Early indications point to a car travelling along Via Caracciolo colliding with Maldini’s vehicle as it came out from Piazza Caneva. The first contact, according to those initial findings, was between the front left of Maldini’s car and the front right of the oncoming vehicle.
That impact then sent the other car into the stationary Mercedes SUV, parked legally in a residents’ space.
Responsibility has not yet been formally established, but the working reconstruction suggests Maldini’s car failed to give way, triggering the chain reaction. Local authorities will continue to analyse the crash to confirm the dynamics and any potential violations.
Back to Cagliari, and back to work
For Maldini, the most important detail is simple: he walked away unhurt. No fractures, no lingering physical damage, just the shock of a night that could have ended very differently.
With the medical scare behind him and his legal team offering reassurance, the 22-year-old can now turn his attention back to the pitch. Cagliari expect him to rejoin training as they step up preparations for their next Serie A fixtures.
One decisive kick on Saturday, a terrifying jolt on Sunday. The question now is how quickly he can park the off-field drama and keep his season on its upward curve.
