Milan Obsession

Last week, Lazio suffered back to back defeats from the two Milan sides. First, a 2-1 loss to Inter in the league to bump them down to 5th place, then a 3-1 loss to Milan to take them out of the Coppa Italia. It wasn’t a good week. So the Eagles from the capital went to Chievo with vengeance and punished the Flying Donkeys with a 3-0 defeat and took their 4th place spot back with the help of Inter’s Lecce loss, too. Now they will turn their anger back toward Milan with revenge in mind as they host the Rossoneri at the Stadio Olimpico tomorrow. Beware of angry birds.

There are good habits and bad habits, and Milan are developing a very good habit… of winning. Granted, based on stats and records this year, Milan were virtually a shoe-in to win tonight. Poor Cagliari never stood much of a chance. But that didn’t stop Milan from showing up for work and taking care of business like champions. Which is good, because our upcoming schedule is anything but easy, and it’s good we put in a good day’s work and brought home the win this week.

Open top busses parading through tens of thousands of fans in Milano. Players with their children on the pitch before the match. Kevin Prince Boateng’s infamous Moonwalk. Fireworks and lasers. But these memories must pale in comparison to the 4-1 drubbing they took that night, or the most painful, watching their former manager’s club lift the Scudetto. And they were all memories of Cagliari’s last trip to the San Siro last May. I wonder if they will be intimidated by these memories or angered? Or will they be haunted/inspired by the 2-0 beating Milan gave them just 5 weeks ago in their house? It is hard to say. But when Milan open their arms and the San Siro to say “Bentornato” (welcome back,) I doubt it will feel warm and fuzzy.

I was really worried about this match. I’d seen a stat in the last day or so that Milan had lost their last 3 Coppa Italia matches to Lazio, and it worried me even more. Then Reja pulls out this wacky 3-4-1-2 lineup, and I have to say I was scared to watch. But if I hadn’t watched, I would not have seen our team pull out a great win. I would have missed the debut of Mesbah. And I would have missed a phenomenal performance from the rising star we call El Shaarawy. To him, I dedicate this one: “Walk Like an Egyptian.”

Last year, fresh off of our Scudetto win vs. Roma, Palermo knocked Milan out of the Coppa Italia Semifinals. Yeah, those boys in pink. This year, Allegri says we need to make it to the finals. That’s why he fielded a team that looked like an open casting call for American Idol vs. Novara. But still, he brought in the big guns when plan “A” didn’t work, forcing both overtime and Pato’s last game for a month or so. Anyway, on Thursday, we’ve invited Lazio over to the San Siro for some Quarterfinal action. One game to determine who goes to the semifinals, one game to rule them… sorry, that’s a different story altogether. Those boys from Middle Earth… er, I mean central Italy may face quite the epic battle. Or they may find that Allegri has fielded a bunch of Hobbits and the San Siro looking more like the Shire.

Okay, so let me just preface this by saying that I think players who play in face masks are seriously badass. Not just because the masks make them look tougher, but because they are obviously wearing them due to having broken a bone. In their face. That is not even healed yet. I’ve broken enough bones in my body to know that between the pain of the injury, the pain of the healing process, and the discomfort of wearing any kind of brace, let alone on your face, these players are badass. And thus, I dubbed the badass Novara keeper, Ujkani, the Phantom of Novara.

Something about that Novara team seems strangely familiar… Didn’t we just play them on Wednesday? Yes. Yes, we did. But that was Coppa Italia, and at the San Siro. This time we travel to the Stadio Silvio Piola to play a league match. (Translation: 3 points are at stake.) Oh... That’s cool.

Have you ever been in a situation that was comfortable, and then things turned horribly awry and you felt lucky to get out alive? That is how this match felt for me. Not so much the result, although that was a contributing factor. But rather escaping without more injuries. (Which as of this writing, I’m not sure we’ve done.) I mean, great for the win, even if we had to take it to overtime to get it. But the last 45 minutes or so was one scary ride.

The time has come for our obligatory participation in what many people view as a worthless tournament. By virtue of our success last year, we come in at the round of 16, and were lucky to draw a team like Novara, who have likely all but actually conceded the match in advance of our league meeting with them away on Sunday. Yes, that’s right, we will play the same team twice in 4 days time, once at home, then away. But wait, don’t grab your social media devices to share the big news yet! There’s more you should know (even if it’s not a lot.)

I closed my preview post with the line “Win or lose, I will still hold my head high, because, not being a reptile, I can.” But I forgot that if we lost, I would be in tears, my head bowed in sorrow. Which makes it pretty difficult to type right now. But as anticipated, Inter brought their A game, the snake charmer Ranieri showing his wisdom and talents yet again. And Milan coughed and sputtered, not able to maintain our A game for 90 minutes, and it cost us 3 points and a healthy serving of pride. Heartbreak.

The time has come to leave it all on the pitch. Personally, I hope it is littered with assorted body parts and large quantities of blood and tears and other bodily fluids from the Nerazzurri players. When the dust settles after the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday night, I want the recently laid San Siro pitch to resemble a battleground after an epic battle, one in which there were no AC Milan casualties. This is true regardless of the score, it’s time to make those Biscioni pay.

In early September, Jovan compared Milan and Inter to determine who had the upper hand when it came to the Scudetto race. With the first derby around the corner, much has changed, particularly Inter’s coach and tactics. So I am asking you, the readers to discuss and rate the same categories to see if we can predict who will prevail on Sunday.

You would have to go back over a hundred years now to try to understand the rivalry between AC Milan and FC Internazionale. Besides sharing a stadium and being city rivals, there was a difference in philosophy that caused the latter group to secede and form their own club: Milan wanted to stick with all Italian players, Inter wanted to win at all costs by bringing in the top players regardless of nationality. Obviously, Milan have since changed their philosophy in order to be competitive, although they have historically still utilized a majority of Italian players in comparison. But it is Inter's win at all costs attitude that has made them the most hated club in Serie A.

Everyone expected this to be a tough game going into this match, and Atalanta delivered. But in the end, the team that took first place in Serie A last season defeated the team that  took first place in Serie B last season. In doing so, Milan handed Atalanta only their third defeat of the season, but kept all three points for themselves to stay at the top of the table heading into the derby next week.

The saying goes “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.” I beg to differ. There are plenty of things I fear, and in addition to sharks and high places, I fear an opponent with a cause. Unfortunately for Milan, Atalanta has just such a cause, and despite being promoted just this season, they are surprising a lot of people this year.

I was not planning on putting up a review post for this match, but I just had to share a few of the highlights for anyone who missed the match. With a 1-0 win over PSG, Milan take home their 3rd Dubai Challenge Cup. Warning: Excessive Pippo and Gattuso worshiping may ensue.

So it has come to pass that the time for the Dubai Challenge Cup is upon us. For teams like AC Milan and Paris St. Germain (PSG), who are both sponsored by Emirates, it is an exhibition game conveniently tied into their winter training in Dubai. But for Milan fans, it’s time for the return of Gattuso and Pippo! That’s right, Gattuso playing for the first time since his nerve problem with his eye, and Pippo playing for the first time since Allegri let him out of the dungeon.

I have never made a secret of my dislike of the transfer market, mainly because of all of the rumors that abound and how much energy is wasted by the fans and media discussing meaningless things as well as  the time the clubs have to waste trying to dispel the myths. I have seen people read statements from clubs vehemently denying transfer rumors and then turn around and spread more rumors in the same breath. I mean is this football or a teenage girls slumber party? Because I’ve been to a few of the latter, and there is more truth in them. But if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, so they say.