Derby d'Italia
The first half of the 2009–10 season was one to forget despite a bright start to his Juve career. He scored his first Juve goal against top-of-the-table rivals Roma in a 3–1 win. In the December Derby d'Italia fixture at home, he was controversially sent off for a supposed elbow at Internazionale's Mario Balotelli. The incident sparked a fiery argument between his teammate Gianluigi Buffon and Inter midfielder Thiago Motta, and both had to be separated by Inter and Juve players. Due to his poor performances throughout the season, he won the Bidone d'Oro Award in 2009, which was given to the worst Serie A player during a particular season. Melo was instrumental in his side's win over Milan at the San Siro in the 2010–11 season, and was later voted man of the match.