Many fans are justifying Milan's 1-0 loss to Lazio Thursday and consequently abrupt exit from the Coppa Italia as acceptable, given the primary objective this season is a return to the Champions League. While finishing top four is definitely the number one target, going deep again or even winning the Coppa Italia was another objective, particularly given the lack of European competition this season. Given that Milan are the reigning Supercoppa champions and Coppa Italia finalists from last season, not only is being eliminated in the Round of 16 completely humiliating, it is a complete failure with hidden consequences that most fans do not seem to be able to see or acknowledge at this point of the season. This was a winnable match that Allegri did not seem to take seriously enough, and while some are blaming the referee again, the bottom line is that it was an insidious failure.
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| Allegri even dressed like he has entered his villain era. |
It is not like Allegri did not have plenty of warning as to what was needed for this match. Saturday's match told him everything he needed to know, but he rotated too many players. Sarri, on the other hand, hell bent on revenge for what he felt was an injustice at San Siro, kept the tradition of using his second goalkeeper, but made only one other change to his starting 11 from Saturday's match. And it showed. Whereas Milan kept up with Lazio on Saturday, Lazio were in control of this match far more than their 42% possession shows.
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| De Winter has been good, but maybe he is not ready for the center spot in the back three. |
Allegri chose to rest Gabbia, Modrić, Bartesaghi, and Nkunku, plus Fofana was injured. So he made five changes to his starting 11 from the team that faced Lazio on Saturday. And none of them were upgrades. Not one. He put De Winter in the center of the back three, which was a lot of responsibility for the young defender. He started Ricci and Jashari in midfield, and while I was happy for Jashari to get his first start, both of them are downgrades from Fofana-Modrić. Bartesaghi has been starting ahead of Estupiñan for a reason, and whatever people say about Nkunku, Loftus-Cheek does not belong in an attacking duo.
As if the starting 11 was not red flag enough, Pavlović being carded in only the second minute for fouling Guendouzi should have been an obvious omen. Toma Bašić sent a free kick over the bar, and then Vecino fouled Leão in what should have been a yellow card, but there was no call, no card. It was Guida, after all, and though he had given Milan a yellow card in the second minute, the 12th minute was far too early to card Lazio, apparently.
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| Allegri watches Estupiñan... does he have regrets? |
Bašić took another shot that went just wide in the 24th minute, then Maignan was forced into a save vs. Taty Castellanos in the 33rd minute. Milan made a good team play in the 38th, and Ricci nearly got a chance, but Mandas shut that down at the last minute. Bašić took two corners in a row just before the half, and Maignan made another save on Isaksen from the second one of them. The half ended with only two registered shots from Milan, with zero on target.
Almost immediately in the second half, Luca Pellegrini tried to catch Maignan off his line, but he was gratefully unsuccessful. Loftus-Cheek had a header that went over just a few minutes later. Rabiot made an amazing challenge on Zaccagni in the 56th minute that Lazio wanted to cry about, but he got the ball first, it was perfect. Then he and Saelemaekers both had chances, and Saelemaekers started playing rough with Zaccagni, too, as he is wont to do sometimes. So Allegri brought Nkunku on for Saelemaekers in the 64th.
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| Nkunku came on to add attacking threat, but it was not enough. |
Estupiñan was more attack-minded in the second half, but he is still a defensive liability, I would rather have Bartesaghi, because he actually plays nice crosses in, but is very solid defensively. Loftus-Cheek and Ricci went up for the same ball, with Loftus-Cheek obviously getting to it with his head, and Ricci going down worse for the wear against his giant teammate. Again, these were not our starting 11. And Estupiñan sent a bouncing cross in for Leão, who was unable to capitalize on it and sent it over the bar.
It was clear after Saturday's match and many others already this season that one referee call could change everything, and Guida has made his fair share of ref calls that were incorrect. So, in the 80th minute, after awarding a "dubious" corner kick, Zaccagni scored. From that corner. 1-0 Lazio. Because, obviously, the goal would come from a questionable referee call, Milan can never just have a straightforward match without any controversy. But to be fair, how many times will it take for the team to learn that they have to play better than any referee errors? And it's not as if Guida is the one who conceded the goal itself.
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| Great to have Jashari not only back, but with his first start, he played well. |
After the goal, Allegri replaced Loftus-Cheek with Pulisic and Jashari with Modrić, but with not even ten minutes left, it was too little, too late. De Winter earned a yellow card for fouling Noslin, who turned around and force Maignan into yet another big save. Finally, in the 87th minute, Allegri put Bartesaghi on for Estupiñan. His fourth and final sub of five available. I'm not sure what he was supposed to do, but that's what happened.
Both Modrić and Pulisic each managed to get a couple of shots off, but did not really trouble Mandas. At the other end, Marušić had one final shot to test Maignan, as well. And then the final whistle blew. Lazio had won and were progressing to the next round, while Milan were out of the Coppa Italia. For the season. No more chances. After Landucci managed both of Allegri's suspended Coppa matches vs. Bari and Lecce, Allegri failed at his first attempt back at Milan.
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| Only ten minutes for Pulisice, and already one down? That was never going to work. |
In Allegri's postmatch comments, he said, "There's no need to be depressed." Not only do I not enjoy being gaslighted, I really hate when men try to tell me how I should be feeling. We've been through this before Allegri, you know how I feel about you. Winning the Coppa Italia is worth approximately €7.1 million, and guarantees a spot in the Europa League. Being a finalist earns around €4 million as well. All of those things would have been incredibly helpful for Milan in a year we have no Europe. So I will be depressed if I want to, you creepy-voiced, balding, womanizing, referee-instigating striptease artist. You would think he would show an ounce of humility, having won the Coppa Italia as his last triumph in his last job.
But there are other potentially serious repercussions from losing this match. We have some key players right now who are deciding on contract extensions (or not.) Maignan, Modrić, and Pulisic all have futures with Milan that are up in the air (and there are likely more,) all of whom are likely waiting to see how serious this project is. We need a serious project. And we desperately need to keep all three of those players and reinforce the team instead of have yet another Year Zero.
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| Rabiot makes a huge difference in the midfield, but he is capable of so much more. |
Maybe Allegri is fine brushing this off, claiming everyone is angry and hiding his abject humiliation. But Milan needed to go through. We could afford to drop three points in Serie A right now, we probably will on Monday anyway. But this loss, whilst only our second this season, just felt so Allegri. And that hurts.
This was the match to focus on, but Allegri was overconfident and chose to underestimate Lazio (despite barely pulling off the win last Saturday,) and over-rotate his players. And while it seems that being top of Serie A after 13 rounds is a far cry from the eighth place last season, it is clear that with injuries, performances have begun to unravel and far too many points have been dropped. Other teams seem stronger, and now is when it is most important to win.
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| We are all Bartesaghi right now. |
Winning this match was actually very important, and Allegri let it slip through our fingers, while the ultra-competitive players whom he benched for this one could only sit and watch their dreams go up in flames. Milan needed a second full competition this season, more matches to play. We needed the money, and we may even need that guaranteed Europa League qualification at the end of the day. But now we get nothing. And that is an insidious failure.
Milan Primavera Find an Equalizer for a 1-1 Draw With Verona Primavera
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| Captain Pippo Scotti celebrates his equalizer vs. Verona Primavera. |
While Renna's Primavera have only lost one "away" match, the Derby, they have struggled all season at home, winning only one home match (the 7-2 slaughter of Cremonese.) With three home losses, this 1-1 draw with Hellas Verona makes three draws as well for the Primavera when playing at home. But this one, they did well to equalize after having gone down a first half goal.
Scotti actually hit the post early on, but it was Pavanati who scored first for Verona in the 17th to put the visitors up 1-0. Early in the second half, though, Scotti found the equalizer to make it 1-1 all. Despite a challenging battle that saw chances from both sides, the points were split in the end. Brief highlights are available. While the Primavera have slipped down to 13th place, they face Bologna Primavera on Friday, who are just two points ahead of Milan on the table, and a victory there could help Renna's boys begin to climb the table once again.
Milan Futuro Win 2-1 vs. Varesina With a Stoppage Time Goal
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| The guys celebrate a well-fought comeback victory. |
Milan Futuro were able to exact revenge on Varesina for knocking them out of Serie D's Coppa Italia in October. Sunday's away match started by conceding an early goal, but ended with a spectacular goal in stoppage time to take all three points with a 2-1 win over Varesina. Futuro conceded a free kick and Varesina scored from it in just the fourth minute, putting them up 1-0. Oddo's guys struggled throughout the rest of the first half, creating only one or two chances themselves.
However, the second half saw a far more confident Milan Futuro take the pitch, both defensively and offensively. They were able to settle into their rhythm and create many chances, one of which Maximilian Ibrahimović scored from to equalize in the 57th minute. However, Varesina's striker still troubled them, and multiple players made amazing blocks, while Pittarella was called upon once or twice to be the hero as well.
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| Magrassi's "Hail Mary" turned into a Mona Lisa |
Both teams fought for the winner until the end, but it was Magrassi's beautiful goal from distance in the third minute of stoppage time that gave Milan Futuro the valuable win. Oddo also subbed on all three Primavera players called up for this one: Scotti, Ossola, and Perera, though all three had played 74 minutes or more on Friday. The full match is available, and highlights will be available soon on Milan's official channels. Futuro sit in fifth place in Group B, and will face eighth place Castellanzanse next Sunday, who are only three points behind them on the table.