Valencia head coach Gennaro Gattuso prevented an attempted robbery on his property while monitoring his side’s match against Cadiz on Friday, January 6.
The robbery on Gattuso’s house in Campolivar, Godella near Valencia could have gone unnoticed but thanks to a high-technology security system and Gattuso’s two guard dogs.
Thievery has now become an ugly trend as robbers take note of fixture lists to know when footballers and coaches will be busy in games, leaving them to take advantage of the opportunity of an empty house to rob.
Meanwhile, those who attempted to rob Gattuso’s house were the latest break-in aimed at footballers following similar raids on Karim Benzema, Alvaro Morata, and Dani Carvajal in their Madrid homes as well as Gattuso’s current winger Samu Castillejo in Valencia.
Chelsea forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also suffered a similar attack that left his jaw broken when his Barcelona house was attacked in August last year before he moved to Stamford Bridge.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was attacked by criminals equipped with irons bars at his residence in the wee hours of Monday, August 29.
The robbers broke into Aubameyang’s home in Castelldefels, just outside of Barcelona, where he lives with his wife and two children.
During the burglary, Aubameyang and his wife were handcuffed and tied up for an extended period and the forward was spotted wearing a mask after he was hit in his jaw.
And the latest, according to a report in Mundo Deportivo, some criminals targeted the Italian’s coach house as he was taking charge of Valencia’s game against Cadiz at the Mestella on Friday.
However, the 44-year-old former Milan and Napoli manager Gennaro Gattuso has already put his home in order, having installed an alarm system with video cameras and motion sensors in his house.
The Valencia manager was prepared for any such attack on his property as he also brought in two guard dogs who were vigilant to disallow any robbery threat and chased the would-be thieves away.
Regional police are now investigating the video evidence to track down the criminals who failed while attempting to rob Gattuso’s property.
The attempted robbery on Gattuso’s home would have been a double loss as the 44-year-old saw his Valencia side lose 1-0 to Cadiz on their home soil.
The loss makes it back-to-back La Liga defeats for Gattuso’s Valencia team since returning to action after the Qatar World Cup break.
The 1-0 loss now leaves Valencia in 11th place in the La Liga table with 19 points.
Valencia will go up against the current Champions League and La Liga champions Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana semi-final on Wednesday, January 11.
The crucial match will take place at the King Fahd International Stadium with kickoff time scheduled for 20:00 BST.
