Podcast • Milan's Reality Show

This season has been filled with so much drama, it feels like a reality show. Huge wins, painful losses, changes in players and managers, and now there is a search for Milan's Next Top Sporting Director. To sort all this out, I invited Paul, the President of  Milan Club Adelaide, to tell us what it is like to be a Milan fan in Australia, and what it was like to have the club come to Australia last summer, including that amazing coreo, (spoiler alert: we find out who the awesome Zia was who was sewing the coreo and also the brains behind it!!) We also spent plenty of time discussing everything happening at the club right now, including the first team, Conceição, Milan Futuro, Milan Primavera, and the management.

Fans in Adelaide know what it is to be Milan fans.

Inter 0, Milan 3: To the Victor Go the Spoils

In 90 minutes, we destroyed their naïve, arrogant treble dreams. We dominated and shut them out, keeping a clean sheet and also forcing Inter to accept a season where they were winless against us. Five times. After pillaging their Supercoppa in January, we plundered all hopes of The Other Inzaghi™ and his FC Bankrupt side reaching another Coppa Italia final, let alone winning another trophy. While Schadenfreude is delicious, though, Milan are through to the final. We have qualified for the Supercoppa next year, which earned us €11 million this year for winning. We still have the chance at Europa League next year if we win the Coppa Italia, which would also be our second trophy of the season (and Inter have yet to win any.) Plus, Milano is red. Like for the whole season it's been red. Winning 3-0 over our city rivals, 4-1 on aggregate in the Semifinals of the Coppa Italia definitely has its rewards. To the victor go the spoils.

The Finalists.

Coppa Italia Semifinal • Inter vs. AC Milan Preview: DNA Test

This management have worked tirelessly to remove Milan's DNA and leave their own mark on the club. From removing Paolo Maldini to dismantling the Scudetto-winning team, their "mark" on the club has become associated to the marks in one's underwear when they learn we are facing FC Bankrupt for the fifth time again this season. After a brave 1-1 draw in the first leg, this match is a win or go home scenario. The reward is a ticket to the final, where Milan would have a chance to play not only for a second trophy, but also direct entrance to the Europa League. Having largely closed all doors to European competition through league play, this match is a must-win in order to have a chance at that. So it is really a test to see if there is still any Milan left at Milan... a Milan DNA test.

Have Milan got what it takes to knock out the joint-league leaders?

Milan 0, Atalanta 1: La Dea Rises

As Diavoli, perhaps Milanisti should have read the signs better. Atalanta are "La Dea," which is "The Goddess" in Italian, and we were playing on Easter. Their story had too many parallels to the Easter story. They had lost three matches, then come back from the dead. And now they defeated Milan 1-0 at the San Siro to ensure everyone knew who they were and that their Champions League qualification bid was resurrected once again. After Milan broke their 17 year curse last week in Udine, having won both matches vs. Udinese in the same season, now Atalanta have won both matches in a season against Milan for only the third time in their history. The signs were all there, we should have known that on Easter Sunday, La Dea rises.

I Diavoli were stuck in hell while La Dea resurrected their Champions League plans

Milan-Atalanta Preview: Buona Pasqua

Serie A typically does not schedule matches on Easter Sunday. Although the Pope is a football fan, he frowns upon it. But this year, all hell is breaking loose anyway, so here we are, Milan is hosting Atalanta on Easter Sunday. And it's perfect, since the Easter holiday is a symbol of renewal, that Milan are trying to jumpstart their redemption arc for the rest of the season. Some genius figured out that it is still mathematically possible for Milan to finish anywhere between second and 14th. (Maybe they were celebrating 4/20 early?) Obviously, it would be an Easter miracle for Milan to even finish top four, but it would be great to at least get a better result than we did vs. Atalanta in their house in December. So let's hope for at least that Easter miracle. Buona Pasqua.

Let's hope Milan comes "con sorpresa" in the shape of another victory.

Udinese 0, Milan 4: The Fourth Dimension

This season, Milan have been living in an alternate reality. Perhaps you could call it the Gattuso Reality™ ("Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe sh*t.") But after all the drama with Fonseca, perhaps fans had given up hope that Conceição had the ability to take this team to another level. However, he had not been given any time to work, with a constant onslaught of matches every three days since January... until recently. But on Friday, there was a visible tactical breakthrough. And while it included a frightening head injury, it also resulted in four unanswered goals, a rare clean sheet, and serving the hateful Udinese fans their fourth defeat in a row. That's right, the final score was Udinese 0, Milan 4. It was as if Milan had entered the fourth dimension.

Pavlović and Tomori giving us the right vibes for this match.

Udinese-Milan Preview: When Racism Goes Unpunished

A year ago January, Udinese found themselves in the worldwide news for all the wrong reasons. Some of their fans had been racially abusing Maignan during the Udinese-Milan match, and for once, the referee, Maresca, followed the protocol. And when stopping the match was not enough, Maignan walked off the pitch and his team followed. Claiming that Friulians are not racists, Udinese made a spectacle of identifying five people who had apparently been responsible using video and facial recognition evidence, banned them for life, and made sure they were also prosecuted legally as well. Only to turn around to the FIGC and appeal the one match ban. Which, of course, since it's Italy, the FIGC gladly complied and the club went unpunished. But hate left unpunished grows, and their Curva Nord, who last year callously claimed that Maignan was the only one who heard the racist chants, have put up a banner in Udine that reads "Maignan uomo di me*da" ("Maignan man of sh*t.") At the same time, they posted on Facebook (the social media haven for racism) "Friuli, Udine, and the Curva Nord are not racist," urging dissent toward Maignan "within the canons of correctness" and also included "the Friulian people do not forget." So they are being racist without saying racist things, because their racist friends got in trouble. That is what happens when racism goes unpunished.

Maignan did not deserve any of this hate, least of all one year later.

Milan 2, Fiorentina 2: Aspiring for Mediocrity

When I titled my preview for this match, "Finding Equilibrium," I did not mean to suggest the teams should play to a draw. I truly was hoping that Milan would find some balance in this insanely imbalanced season and step into their own for the last part of the season. But instead, they stepped aside for Fiorentina, and while they fought back from 2-0 down, in the end they could only pull off the 2-2 draw. And unlike a lot of people, I am not blaming the manager and players as much as I am calling out management. In every single thing they have done since taking over the club, all they have done is claim they wanted success, but all of their actions have left the club aspiring for mediocrity.

The players have embraced each other, but no one is safe from the mediocrity of management.

Milan-Fiorentina Preview: Finding Equilibrium

Have you ever had an injury or illness that affected your equilibrium? It's a strange sensation, and one that would feel very familiar to Milan fans who have watched this season. One minute, the team seem fine, great even, capable of doing anything. And the next minute, they are either wobbling or actually on the ground, without even understanding what happened. Conceição, who is used to consistently winning, has struggled to understand both the atmosphere from the Milan fans this season and also something he has made a few references to as "bad luck." Yes, Sérgio, one club from Milano gets all the calls, and one does not. Beyond that, with management being about as stable as America's current president, the environment at the club has been volatile this season, making it even more difficult for players to strike a balance in their individual and collective performances. However, it is time to try to end the season well, so let's hope they can start with this match by finding some equilibrium.

The team are in a difficult environment, but need to find their way.

AC Milan 1, Inter 1: Act I

The curtains have closed on the first act of the Coppa Italia Semifinal's Derby della Madonnina, and we have a two week intermission until the second act. The first act saw Milan and Inter draw 1-1, with all the drama left for the second match. While Milan fielded most of their starters, there were a lot of understudies for Inter, who have some big players injured. So the suspense is tangible, almost as if this match had not even been played. For Milan, everything is on the line, while Inter are looking to win their first trophy of the year after Milan stole their thunder (and their silverware) in January. So enjoy the intermission, because the drama is going to get very real next time. This was just Act I.

Only the first Act, with everything to play for in Act II.

Coppa Italia Semifinal • AC Milan-Inter Preview: Desperation Derby

Milan have their proverbial backs up against the wall this season. After going out of the Champions League at the Group Stage, there are only eight matches left to fight for a European spot of any kind for next season. Sitting solidly in ninth place at this point, that is now just a fool's hope. We are in the Coppa Italia Semifinals, which for some inexplicable reason are a two-leg round, while every other round is only one leg, including the final. Still, in 2025, when players and everyone else are concerned about the number of matches, we're doing this. Worse still, of course, we've drawn our cheating, slimy, scum-sucking cugini, Inter. But winning this round and then progressing to the final gives us a chance at another trophy and guaranteed access to the Europa League next season, too. So despite playing a hated rival, for Milan, this is a desperation Derby.

Milan are desperate for access to Europe next season.

Napoli 2, Milan 1: Sick of It All

Waking up to the news that Loftus-Cheek was having emergency surgery when he was meant to have his first start since December was distressing enough. But seeing the starting lineups made me feel ill. Then we had to suffer through yet another match where we conceded goals and had to try to fight back, which was even more nauseating. We've seen this so many times before. But it ended Napoli 2, Milan 1, we dropped three more points, distancing ourselves further from Europe instead of trying to change our fate. And afterward, we found out that Conceição had to change three of his planned starting 11 at the last minute due to health issues. Every time there is the slightest glimmer of hope to cling to this season, everything that can go wrong does. I'm just sick of it all.

Bad luck feels bad for our season.