Roma-Milan Preview: Access Denied

Ever since Maldini was sacked, the character of everyone at the club has gone downhill. Almost immediately, fans threw the legend under the bus, disparaging him and selling out his good name to worship an owner who splashed €130 million that transfer window. (Now, of course, they are spamming the club's social media comments with images of Maldini begging for his return.) Then there were a few fans caught on video racially abusing Lukaku, as well as our players getting into hot water for singing anti-Juve songs. And it has continued to deteriorate, leading to the fans vandalizing the Stadio Olimpico and fighting with rival fans after losing the Coppa Italia Final on Wednesday. After already being denied their prepared coreografia that evening, now all Milan fans have been banned from attending Sunday's match vs. Roma. Which is just as well, because the Curva Sud had announced they would not be attending already, leaving the players "in their shame." The real shame, of course, is Milan's owner and management, whose actions are the real reasons for the fans' access denied.

Tammy Abraham scored two against the team that owns him. in the Coppa Italia.

Roma have been in the zone under Ranieri, bu finally had their unbeaten streak broken by third place Atalanta in a 2-1 away defeat. For that match, Ranieri lined up a 3-4-2-1 with Svilar; Çelik, Mancini, Ndicka; Rensch, former Milan deserter Cristante, Koné, Angeliño; Soulé, Shomurodov; and Dovbyk. From his list of callups, Ranieri will be missing Dybala, Lorenzo Pellegrini, and Dovbyk to injury. They will either be demoralized by breaking their unbeaten streak, or they will be angry and seeking revenge. My guess is the latter. Either way, they did not play midweek, so will also be more rested.

Let's just hope he does not score against us.

Speaking of demoralized, in addition to suffering a brutal loss on Wednesday in the Coppa Italia Final, Milan also have some new injury concerns. Conceição has lost Theo Hernández, Walker, and Chukwueze to injury, joining Bondo on the list of wounded players. Our two best fullbacks missing, one of the positions we are weakest at with substitutions. And we're facing another club above us, Last time we faced them in the league, it was the final straw for Fonseca, as it ended in a 1-1 draw, (although we since defeated them 3-1 in the Coppa Italia,) but Roma have been far more consistent than Milan.

The battle will be tough, made tougher without any Milan supporters. 

This penultimate matchday has disappointment and heartbreak written all over it. The players are exhausted mentally and physically from the insane roller coaster they have been on, not only this season, but for some of them since June of 2023. All but two teams are playing this round simultaneously because the race for the last European spots is so close. But I don't think Milan need to worry about those spots, because no matter how hard they try, everyone and everything is working against them, and the result is always access denied.

The Primavera End Season with a 3-1 Win over Genoa and Sixth Place

A victory photo for the young team who made the Playoffs.

Amongst all the turmoil, disappointment, and anger, Milan Primavera brought us some good news this week. After it seemed like their Championship Playoff hopes were gone, with Verona Primavera losing, and a statement 3-1 win over Genoa Primavera on their final matchday, Guidi's Primavera finished in sixth place, booking their spot in the Scudetto Playoffs. This was definitely a feel-good win that fans desperately needed this week.

The match started with a 32nd minute penalty converted by Liberali. After halftime, Genoa equalized. However, Maximilian Ibrahimović, having subbed on after returning from injury, punished Genoa Primavera with a goal in the 75th minute, assisted by Bonomi. And finally, the Primavera's top scorer this season, Pippo Scotti, sealed the match with the third goal in stoppage time. They will face Sassuolo Primavera next Saturday in the playoffs.

Milan Futuro Are Relegated to Serie D After Loss to SPAL

Oddo consoles a distraught Bartesaghi, whose future is not completely uncertain.

There are not any words that adequately describe the arrogance, the ignorance, the incompetence, the sheer naĩveté... none of those words come close to describing how our management took the most valuable team in Serie C, with the most talented young players out of 60 teams, and get them relegated in one season.

Don't foul Bob. A metaphor for Milan Futuro's entire season.

I have mentioned this so many times this season... Juve's NextGen were bottom of their group, but they changed managers in November. They finished ninth in their group. From dead last to ninth. But these narcissistic imbeciles stuck with Bonera through March, until there were only ten matches left. And Milan Futuro finished 18th place in Group B.

So, despite having a 1-0 lead in the Playouts thanks to their home win vs. SPAL last week, Milan Futuro lost 2-0 away on Saturday. And that was it. Two first half goals conceded in 15 minutes, and it was over. Sure, the refereeing was poor, and the decision to disallow Sia's goal in the 73rd minute suspect. But neither of those things mattered, as with the home advantage, if the score were tied, SPAL would still have won. There are highlights of the match on the Serie C YouTube channel, or if you are a masochist, you can watch the full match replay on FIFA+.

The experienced Magrassi shows support to a young Bartesaghi.

The loss is incomprehensibly bitter. All these incredibly talented young players, promised player development, instead having their careers and development harmed by those who made that promise. But the worst is that no one at the club made a statement at all to the press afterward. No one has been heard from. It is unclear whether or not they plan to try to keep the Milan Futuro team and gain promotion again from the semiprofessional league that is Serie D, or if they will disband and try again in a year or two.

With no acknowledgement, no accountability, and certainly no apologies from management, the way this entire project and season was managed is indefensible. 

This post inspired by the music of Lucio Corsi's "Volevo essero un duro"

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Our next matches are:

Serie A Week 37

Roma vs. Milan

Sunday, May 18, 2025 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)

In the U.S., this match can be streamed on Paramount+,

or use a VPN to access better coverage

Campionato Primavera 1 Playoffs

Sassuolo Primavera vs. Milan Primavera

Saturday, May 24, 2025 • Time TBD

This match is not being televised in the U.S.