I'll go ahead and state the obvious: this is why it's beneficial to have an Italian captain, especially one who is on the national team.
You saw De Rossi get sent off against Porto last September for a tackle on Pereira where he broke the guy's ankle. In Italy, De Rossi only gets a yellow for that imo, because he's De Rossi and he's Italian.
It's a shame, because it shouldn't be the case, but it's the reality of the matter. The best thing that could happen to us is that Gagliardini grows into a great NT player and a club leader.