Milan 2, Bari 0: Even Without Allegri

Milan played their first official match of the Allegri era on Sunday in the Coppa Italia, and managed a 2-0 win over Bari, even without Allegri. The recycled new manager was suspended for two matches after his unwelcome rage striptease act while on the Juventus bench in the Coppa Italia Final in 2024. In the saddest and most generic San Siro atmosphere I have ever seen, our new players were presented, and then the team went on to earn their spot in the next round without too many problems. There were obviously positives and negatives, but it was comforting to know they pulled it off, even without Allegri.

 A team filled with leaders, veterans, new, and young players can win even without Allegri.

Just ahead of the match, Milan presented the seven new players signed in the transfer window thus far. This was notable, because it actually finally felt like some of these signings were worthy of such a presentation, and also it was clear that the more than 70,000 people who packed San Siro on the weekend of Ferragosto (when most Italians are on vacation) were there to see Luka Modrić. Obviously, as the only current player in Serie A to have won the Ballon d'or (along with pretty much every other trophy there is,) he would be a big draw. Also, getting that many people to pronounce "Athekame" correctly was never going to happen.

Shiny new players.

But there was more... adding Igli Tare, a real Sporting Director, instead of those pretending to be for the past two years at Milan, clearly has given credibility to these signings and repaired some trust with the fans. Tare said it himself ahead of the match (so nice to have someone credible speaking for the club again): "With the arrival of Modrić, Jashari, and Ricci, I think I've raised the technical level of this team." Certainly, our midfield went from an poorly planned, unbalanced mix of players where there were some pieces missing altogether and others very redundant, to what now looks to be a powerful, technically gifted midfield that should strike fear in our opponents. And Tare deserves a lot of credit, he has done so much with such little time and money.

Obviously, that midfield is still a work in progress. But starting Ricci and still having Jashari and Modrić to sub on had to terrify Bari so much. And it helped the entire team defend better, while allowing our attack to actually ruthlessly take 24 shots at Bari's goal (even if only five were on target.) And probably half of those 24 shots were from Fofana. His first was in the fifth minute, saved by Cerofolini, and I think he only got one more on target, despite many, many, many attempts.

Lethal.

Rafa Leão, however, was far more lethal. His header from a perfect Tomori cross put Milan ahead in just the 14th minute. 1-0 Milan. However, apparently, his calves are not used to launching his massive body off the ground like that, and he had to be subbed off almost immediately due to a muscle issue, and Santi Gimenez replaced him. Marco Landucci, standing in for the sanctioned Allegri, said after the match that Leão had felt a hardening of his calf muscles, and he will be evaluated this week. Fans were justifiably worried, of course, when they saw him limping on camera later in the match.

Pulisic took over the dangerous shot duties, with several attempts, including one hitting the crossbar in the 25th minute. After a cooling break, Fofana resumed his fruitless efforts. Then, just to make sure Maignan had something to do, apparently, in the 39th minute, Sibili tried a shot from distance that forced our new captain into a great save. But that was Bari's only shot on target, and they only took six shots in all.

Where there's smoke, there's fire, and Ricci's debut performance heated up our midfield.

Three minutes later, Santi Gimenez scored, but it was called back for offside. Despite having to come on much earlier than planned, Santi seemed to take it personally, and it made him that much hungrier. Saelemaekers had a shot that went just wide in stoppage time, he gave an MVP performance that reaffirmed the team's decision to keep him this season instead of loaning him out again.

After halftime, Pulisic and Gimenez, the attacking duo on the pitch, teamed up with a great give-and-go, and Pulisic slotted it home for his first goal of the season, and Milan's second of the night. Milan 2-0. It was great to have him back after his injury on the summer tour. It was strange, Milan's social media team's new matchday graphic looks more like an ad for a horror film, which seemed ominous, particularly when you consider this is Allegri's second reign of terror. However, the graphics missed the memo, and there was nothing to be frightened of.

This is how a two-man attack should work.

Bari substituted two of their new summer signings in the 52nd minute, and it was a somber moment as Matthias Verreth, grieving father, was one of the players coming on. All the players were wearing black armbands, and there had been a minute's silence to honor his recently deceased baby boy. Such an emotional night after such a heart-wrenching tragedy. The other new signing, Emmanuele Rao, on loan from Napoli, immediately made his mark on the match with a shot over the bar.

The 66th minute was when Landucci made a triple substitution, including two big debuts. Musah came off for Pulisic, Jashari made his debut replacing Loftus-Cheek, and the moment everyone had been waiting for, Modrić replaced Ricci for his debut. This had obviously been Ricci's debut as well, and Estupiñan's debut as well, who also performed better than expected. 

A dream come true.

Modrić had a shot saved in the 76th, and it was clear that his teammates were going to have to learn a lot to keep up with him. Okafor replaced Saelemaekers in the 81st minute, which meant that two-thirds of our Swiss Delegation was now on the pitch, considering Jashari was also on. The match crescendoed out without much of anything remarkable, but at the final whistle, Milan did have the win. They will face Camarda and Lecce in the next round the week of September 24th.

The Soulless San Siro

The saddest thing is that with the sanctions levied by the club against certain "undesirable" members of the Curva Sud which prohibits them from purchasing season tickets, as well as the continued ban on all flags, banners, and coreografia, the San Siro looked so generic and stale. The team did not even seem to know whether or not to approach the Curva at the end of the match. It reminded me of when sports teams tried to use cardboard cutouts to replace fans during COVID. With the Curva Sud silently protesting on top of it, there was only a tiny section of Bari fans with a few flags and singing chants the whole match. And even they sang in support of the Curva Sud, singing "Free the Ultras." It was the saddest thing I've ever seen.

The players seemed uncertain whether or not to approach the Curva after the match, so very sad.

Sure, the stadium cheered for the team like neutral fans would, and everyone was excited about Modrić. But the passion and atmosphere that Milan and Serie A are known for was completely missing, and it felt like someone had cut out the beating heart of the San Siro and our team. The reasons for these sanctions are complex, but it must be said that our management has been spineless in not standing up for our fans and for our team. The Curva Sud is forbidden from even displaying their "Curva Sud" banner this season that has been at every match for decades. It's absurd. And instead, the club had a prominent "Fondazione Milan" banner as well as one about "Family Day." This isn't just the local authorities.

I have been the first to criticize the criminals within the Curva Sud. I wrote about Luca Lucci almost four years ago, and now he is behind bars again, with layers of drug charges as well as associating with crime familes, violence, and more. However, the anti-mafia police and local authorities have overstepped their bounds, and now the club is going along with them, denying certain non-criminal fans, including those who protested management, the right to buy a season ticket in the Curva Sud. This 100% seems like a plan to silence the Curva: No protests, no singing, no drums, no coreografia, no banners, no flags. But especially no protests against management.

Our MVPs deserve a stadium that inspires and fuels them.

The "undesirables" who have been blacklisted by management are allowed to buy a season ticket elsewhere in the stadium, because obviously, management still wants their money. And the most spectacularly insincere part of the policy is that they are allowed to buy single match tickets in the Curva Sud area. So it's fine for them to spend more money by purchasing tickets one match at a time, and not having a guaranteed seat, but not a season ticket? Something is definitely fishy here. And why would the club agree to this? It's in their financial and sporting interests to have the best stadium atmosphere.

For those of you worried about the criminals, facial recognition technology has been installed in both Curve, and there is no more ticket-swapping allowed in the area of the Curva Sud, so either you come to the game or your seat stays empty. No one else can use your ticket. These and other security measures have been implemented to ensure that every person and their activities are documented and tracked during their entire time in the Curva. Nothing is foolproof, but these measures brought the San Siro up to standard, and with the masterminds of the criminal activities behind bars, it seems excessive to deny the team, the stadium, and fans all over the world some normalcy in stadium life.

A very deceptive graphic, the San Siro is no longer a welcoming stadium.

This will be a very, very, very long season if we have to endure these even more harsh sanctions this year after everything last season. The team played well enough, but also were not particularly challenged, with Bari struggling to meet the moment. But what will happen when they meet a team that does challenge? How will the team find that extra inspiration and support they need from our most passionate fans? It is really great that our midfield is so much improved, and they may be able to provide some compensation for the increased deficiencies elsewhere. But none of that will matter without the full support of the Curva Sud, who are capable of lifting the team to victory, even without Allegri.

Milan Primavera Win Their First Match vs. Lecce 2-1 

Lontoni and Bonomi show what 3 points looks like.

Sunday was doubly victorious, as new Primavera Manager Giovanni Renna's side were away to Lecce. Milan defeated Lecce 2-1 thanks to a brace from Simone Lontani. Pippo Scotti, last season's top scorer for the Primavera, was wearing the armband, and had a couple of great chances in the second half, and the brilliant Longoni was back in goal after his injury at the end of last season and made a couple of great saves as well. New signings Alex Castiello from Atalanta and Mattia Piermarini also made their debuts in this match, with the latter pairing up with Culotta in defense to make an instant impact.

Bonomi had a great free kick that went just wide in the first half, but the match was scoreless at the half. Lontani broke the deadlock in the 58th minute with a great header from a cross by Scotti. That was followed up with another header in the 64th, this time assisted by Cappelletti. Lecce did pull one back in the 82nd, and were pushing for an equalizer, but Milan were able to hold them off for all three points. Brief highlights are available. A great start for the Primavera, they will face Sassuolo next week at home.

This post inspired by the music of Garbage's "There's No Future In Optimism"

Our next match is:

Serie A Week 1

Milan vs. Cremonese

Saturday, August 23, 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 Week 2

Milan Primavera vs. Sassuolo Primavera

Monday, August 25, 2025 • 16:30 CET (10:30am EDT)

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