Milan-Juventus Preview: Back to the Future

In the race for a Champions League spot this season, this match becomes incredibly significant. Milan come into this weekend in second place, but only on goal differential over Napoli, while Juventus have that fourth spot, but are only three points behind Milan. Yet in such a consequential match, one cannot help but do a double take. Allegri, Rabiot, and De Winter are all on Milan's side after their long histories with the Bianconeri, whilst Kalulu and of course, Locatelli are wearing the criminal black and white stripes, having both played for Milan. With an already intense rivalry, this one will have fans doing double takes and looking to the past as they attempt to qualify for a top four spot. Both sides will be looking back to the future.

Will Juve's past determine Milan's future?

Verona 0, Milan 1: Tired of the Torture

Watching football should not be so exasperatingly exhausting. Particularly when we pull up with world class players like Luka Modrić, Adrien Rabiot, Mike Maignan, and Rafa Leão to play a team that is a mere formality away from relegation. Everyone talks about how Milan needs a new striker, but Allegri leaves his actual strikers on the bench, instead, severely hindering his top wingers. Like seriously, he is the only person in the universe who thinks Leão should play center forward. And even with the 1-0 win over Verona, it felt like we had survived a massive natural disaster instead of just watching a football match. And that's not even taking into account the racist abuse from Verona fans, which, of course, went unreported and unpunished. Because the only thing worse than being racially abused in front of 21,000 fans is for the powers that be to dismiss it entirely and for no justice to be served. Honestly, I'm just tired of the torture.

Winners. Trauma survivors.

Verona-Milan Preview: Treachery

Despite a great record in recent years against Hellas Verona, Milan fans have a long history with the club and the stadium and bad luck. Milan coming into this match with back-to-back losses is not helpful, either, particularly when you consider the disconnect from reality in both the Napoli loss and last week's loss to Udinese at home. For me, though, besides the overall disgrace of a management, the third consecutive Year Zero this past summer after a chaotic season last year, and all of the insane referee issues this season, the banning of our away fans once again is actually the worst part of this one. It's not even political matchfixing anymore, it's just treachery.

Are our players going to Verona having already been sold out by the powers that be?

Milan 0, Udinese 3: Milan in 3D – Disconnected, Disappointed, Disassociated

The problem with having a manager who is the master of spin in the press is that it is impossible to know what is actually going on at your club. We've seen it so many times before this season, Allegri said Santi Gimenez was close to returning, when in reality, he had a serious injury that eventually required surgery. We were told Leão and Pulisic were fit to play, when clearly, they have not been fit for some time. This kind of selective truth sharing creates false expectations and can only lead to disappointment. At this point in the season, it has actually become dangerous, and may have been a huge contributing factor to the shock 3-0 loss to Udinese at San Siro on Saturday. Despite recent results, I don't think fans were prepared to see Milan in 3D – disconnected, disappointed, and disassociated.

Disconnected, disappointed, disassociated.

Milan-Udinese Preview: More Than A Numbers Game

Milan have gone from being undefeated in the league for 24 matches and possibly contending for the Scudetto to now needing to focus every single match until the end of the season and win enough matches just to achieve their original goal of top four and qualifying for the Champions League again. Allegri has always claimed that this was the goal, focusing on the number of points Milan would need to qualify, which perhaps sold this team short. Or maybe the very light 23 man roster was simply not enough for a "winning manager" like Allegri to actually "win?" Either way, Milan host Udinese at the San Siro on Saturday evening knowing they need all three points. Allegri has been under a lot of media and fan pressure to implement an attacking trident, as his 3-5-2 system has not benefitted any of our attackers all season long and the goals have dried up. But even Allegri knows this isn't just about a formation or the number of attackers on the pitch at one time. To qualify for the Champions League now, this is more than a numbers game.

Allegri is under a lot of pressure to stop being his stubborn self.

Napoli 1, Milan 0: When You Can't See the Match for the Corto Muso on Your Face

Allegri is a very stubborn man. We knew this about him the first time around. As he progressed and won trophies with prior clubs, he increasingly became known for winning by the smallest of margins, a style of playing he dubbed "corto muso," which translates to "short muzzle," or what we would say in English, "by a nose." People claim it is about playing defensively, efficiently, pragmatically, and focusing on the win itself. However, for us fans, it feels a lot more like gambling on horse racing. (Allegri's love of horse racing is actually where corto muso comes from.) And so, too many matches this season have felt like Allegri was gambling with our potential results. Making some inexplicable lineups and changes and playing his stubborn, defensively constipated tactics at the risk of losing, but gambling that it was enough to win "by a nose." And most of the time, the quality of our best players managed to get him that win. Or at least snatch a late goal for a draw. So many draws. But this 1-0 loss to Napoli showed us that sometimes he gambles too much. He's more focused on doing the bare minimum to reach top four than he is properly preparing the team for matches like this one. A loss like this is what happens when you can't see the match for the corto muso on your face.

Did Allegri gamble too much in this one?

Napoli-Milan Preview: Politics Over Sport

With Napoli just one point behind Milan in the intensely contested top four spots, it's not news when players or teams might want to use every sporting advantage. However, in Italy, the Scudetto or even Champions League spots are not always won on the pitch. And I'm not just talking about the profoundly biased refereeing that has consistently and statistically given one team clear advantages for years now. This time, I'm talking about cities using their political power to give their teams bigger home advantages by overcharging, restricting, or even banning traveling fans without real cause. We saw it last year with Bologna, both in the league and in the Coppa Italia Final, and then again in a crucial match in Roma. Now, Napoli have banned Milan's traveling fans without citing an actual reason in a match that could determine a Champions League spot, which is worth bare minimum €50 million just for qualifying. It is blatant matchfixing without any recourse for Milan or its fans. Once again, it's politics over sport.

Dedicating this to our Curva, who are being blocked from supporting Milan by politics.

Milan 3, Torino 2: Pajama Party

Milan showed up at the San Siro on Saturday looking like they were dressed more for a slumber party than a football match. Wearing the "silver" version of the Slam Jam collaboration Fourth Kits, perhaps they also felt like they were in their pajamas, because once again, they did not really wake up until the second half, causing all of us to suffer for at least the first 30 minutes for sure. With just a few minutes of enjoyable football, the rest was a tough battle with a determined opponent, one that finally ended in a 3-2 victory over Torino. And that was lucky, too, because can you imagine how embarrassing it would have been to lose or even draw dressed like that? It's humiliating enough they looked like they were having a pajama party.

Actions speak louder than words.