Fiorentina 1, Milan 3: Paying Our Respects

On a day that Fiorentina were honoring their late General Manager, Joe Barone, Milan also paid their respects. During the minute of silence, instead of clapping or jeering or shouting stupid things like some other fanbases do, you could hear a pin drop in the stadium, as traveling Milan fans were respectfully silent alongside the mourning Fiorentina fans. After the whistle, Milan respected Fiorentina in the most sporting way possible, by giving them a great match. And even if Milan defeated the Viola 2-1, it was simply our way of paying our respects.

Paying our respects in the most sporting way possible...

Fiorentina-Milan Preview: In the Valley of Sorrows

Going to the Stadio Artemi Franchi always brings intense emotions for Pioli, who managed Fiorentina for two years. During his time at the helm, you may remember, his captain (and former Milan Youth player,) Davide Astori passed away six years ago. Now Fiorentina are mourning someone else, as their General Manager, Joe Barone, suffered cardiac arrest just hours before their last match was scheduled to occur, and passed away last week, just two weeks after the anniversary of the loss of Astori. It is in this atmosphere that Milan travel to Florence to play Fiorentina on Saturday, in the valley of sorrows.

This one is always an emotional one for Pioli, who is still respected by Fiorentina fans.

The Acerbi Debacle: The Price of Not Punishing Racism

The democratic ideal of "innocent until proven guilty" has always favored those with wealth and perceived or real power. In cases where it is one person's word against another, the person harmed often did nothing, and is left with the burden of proof against the person who harmed them. This has always been true of racial abuse, particularly in Italy, where ignorance about what racism even is continues to be the norm. We saw this play out yet again these past two weeks after Juan Jesus reported that he was subjected to racial slurs from Francesco Acerbi on the pitch. On Serie A's "Keep Racism Out" weekend of all weekends. (This is not the first time that has happened in Serie A, either.) People with wealth and power (particularly those who are white) insist that it is unfair to punish someone based on one man's word. What they do not seem willing to admit is that Juan Jesus was already punished much worse by one man's words. And by not punishing Acerbi, that punishment has become exponential, both for Juan Jesus and other people of color. That is the price of not punishing racism.

Another white male (who happens to play for Inter) gets away with racial abuse.

Investigating AC Milan: Italy's Blatant Denial of Inter's Financial Reality

The Italian government and media have done some scandalous things to divert from, cover up, or flat out deny the existence of criminal conduct in the football world. The Plusvalenze cases come to mind, where so many clubs got caught cooking the books, but most have evaded all punishment. Usually, though, the biggest denial surrounds Inter and/or referees, such as in the Calciopoli scandal of 2006. But this year, they have pulled out all of the stops. As Inter's owner is being prosecuted for personal debts of over €300 million he owes in China and risks actually going to jail, Suning is also less than two months from losing Inter to an investment company for not repaying the €375 million they owe them, part of over €800 million in overall longterm debt. Yes, the league leaders, Inter Milan. Yet it is AC Milan that is being investigated. Italian officials are apparently worried that the company that manages €65.5 billion in assets still owns the club, rather than the company that manages €10 billion in assets. It's almost as if they are investigating AC Milan as a way to blatantly deny Inter's harsh financial reality.

Inter's reality, but sure, let's investigate AC Milan.

Podcast: The State of Milan

While people have been assessing the state of things, I asked longtime guest of the podcast Pete to return and discuss the current state of Milan. On the State of Pioli, we also had a rebuttal from Katie Britt of Alabama (bet y'all didn't know she was a Milan fan.) But mostly, we discussed the recent Milan matches, Pioli's tenuous position at the club, the possibility of summer transfers and even the latest scandal to hit Milan (or at least what the media wants us to think is a scandal.)

Where exactly does Pioli stand?

Verona 1, Milan 3: Fortitude

Earlier this season, Milan struggled to string together a few wins in the league, let alone to win in Serie A after playing a midweek match, too. Yet now Milan have won three league matches in a row, while playing two Europa League matches less than 72 hours before their past two games. This 3-1 win away to Hellas Verona demonstrated that not only can Milan manage to pull out results with some rotation of players, they have the mentality to win even with tired legs. We are witnessing a new mental fortitude.

Milan's mentality leaving opposition like...

Verona-Milan Preview: Unyielding Force

After a couple of poor results in the league, Milan answered with back to back wins in Serie A and qualifying for the Quarterfinals of the Europa League with back to back wins vs. Slavia Praha. Yet once again, they are called upon to play another match less than 72 hours after their match in Prague. Traveling to Verona is never easy, so Milan will need to stay focused if we want to win against Verona again. With one foot into the international break, they need to maintain an unshakable mentality and prove that they are an unyielding force.

Pioli's infamous mentality is needed now more than ever.

SK Slavia Praha 1, Milan 3: Banished

After last week's match at San Siro, when Slavia Praha were forced to play on 10 men for over an hour, I had really wanted this one to be different. It started with some brilliant coreografia from Slavia Praha Ultras that read, "In the heart of Eden, we cast out the Devil." (Their stadium is also known as Eden Stadium, built in a district called Eden.) However, that was very short lived, as their captain was sent off after just 16 minutes this time, leaving his team a task of biblical proportions in which il Diavolo easily conquered. Milan defeated Slavia 3-1 in this match, with an overall score of 7-3 on aggregate, sending the Rossoneri into the Europa League Quarterfinals and leaving Slavia Praha banished.

A relaxed win to progress to the Quarterfinals.

Europa League Round of 16 • SK Slavia Praha-AC Milan Preview: All On the Line

Milan travel to Prague on Thursday in an attempt to finish what they started. However, they will be in hostile territory, facing a tough team who gave them more than they expected with only 10 men last week. Despite scoring as many goals on Slavia Praha last week in their 4-2 win as the Czech side had conceded in their entire Europa League Group Stage, Milan also conceded two impressive goals while the visitors were down a man. So how does this one play out? Can Milan overcome themselves and assert their economic and skilled advantages? Or will the home team demonstrate that heart and desire mean more than big names and paychecks? Only one team can progress, so the outcome of Thursday's match will be decisive with it all on the line.

Ready to battle to the end for qualification to the next round.

Milan 1, Empoli 0: In Control

Despite having played a difficult Europa League match less than 72 hours ahead of this match, Milan showed up and never really left any doubt with their performance in their 1-0 win over Empoli, even missing key players and facing a team desperate for points. With Leão and Florenzi suspended, and Pioli giving some rest to players like Giroud, Adli, and Kjaer, for once, there was intensity and focus for much of the match, only allowing Empoli two shots on target the entire match. For a match with such quick turnaround after the home match vs. Slavia Praha, for once, this Milan were in control.

United in purpose.

Milan-Empoli Preview: Times Have Changed

After a surprisingly unsatisfying 4-2 win over Slavia Praha in the Europa League on Thursday, Milan host 14th place Empoli at San Siro on Sunday evening. When Milan faced Empoli just two short months ago in their house, they were in 19th place, they had a different manager, and even had some differences in their squad. And Milan won that match, part of a strong run of form since the turn of the year. But everything is different now. And Milan played a tough match less than 72 hours before kickoff of this match. This clash will be completely different, because times have changed.

A job well done in January, but it will take a concerted team effort to win again on Sunday.

AC Milan 4, SK Slavia Praha 2: The Power of 10

Coming into this match, Pioli spoke confidently of their preparations, but once the match kicked off, Milan did not seem so prepared. Perhaps it was the referee, who made some controversial early calls. But Slavia Praha playing on 10 men for more than an hour seemed to only empower them, not weaken them. Sure, they will be exhausted, and they may have an injury or two from playing so hard, but even Milan's 4-2 win over Slavia did not feel like a victory with such a gutsy performance from the visiting Czech side. Players postmatch denied that they underestimated Slavia, but the match looked like maybe they did. Certainly, they surprised everyone with the power of 10.

Thanking the fans for their support after a difficult win.

Europa League Round of 16 • AC Milan-SK Slavia Praha Preview: Battle Plan

Thursday at the San Siro, Milan continue their quest for Europa League glory by hosting an in form SK Slavia Praha. Having finally won a favorable draw after the Champions League Group of Death this season, Milan could have faced either German Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen or the second place team in the Czech First League, SK Slavia Praha. While this will still be a difficult match, Milan do have a better chance at advancing to the next round if they can maintain focus and play their game against the Czech side. It will all depend on whether or not Milan can successfully execute the battle plan.

Our warriors ready for European battle.

Lazio 0, Milan 1: Referee Gone Wild

This has been a horrible week for refereeing in Serie A. Sunday, Orsato and Irrati paired up for some creative decisions that cost Milan two points against Atalanta. Midweek, there were a some controversial calls against Atalanta that favored Inter that was swept under the rug by the overwhelming final score. Friday at the Olimpico, Milan defeated Lazio 1-0, but Di Bello had a horror show with the cards. However, this is nothing new for Serie A. Ten years ago, I wrote about Refs Gone Wild, after another horror show by one Gianluca Rocchi, who is now the the Serie A referee designator. After ten years, and the additions of multiple forms of technology and rule changes meant to improving officiating in Serie A, Italian football is still regularly marred by a referee gone wild.

When your performance becomes a meme.