Milan 3, Lecce 0: Finally Amorim

After facing a level of criticism and backlash the toxic Italian media reserves especially for foreign managers or players in Serie A due to the brutal midweek loss in the Europa League, Amorim shut them all up by getting everything right. I am still going to buy some extra popcorn for his press conferences, which I am now very much looking forward to. But Milan's 3-0 win over Lecce and the dominant performance that came along with it gives Amorim and the entire team a bit of respite from the media's toxic ways over the long three week international break. What a great way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the San Siro stadium. Plus, the match was pretty easy on the eyes, too. Finally, Amorim.

Take a bow, Mister. It's been quite the week.

Villa Valle 1, Milan Futuro 2: Mental Victory

Navarro's Milan Futuro pulled off an impressive comeback win on Sunday, with a 2-1 win away to Villa Valle. The score may not seem impressive, but considering that Villa Valle dominated play and pummeled Milan's goal with shots for 90 minutes, then scored the first goal as well, the score starts to mean something. While previous iterations of Milan Futuro were more likely to start out strong and then concede goals to drop points, this Milan Futuro side stuck together, showed grinta and a strong mentality that resulted in them coming back with all three points. This one was not just a physical victory, it was a mental victory.

Pandolfi celebrates his winning goal with his teammates.

Milan Primavera 0, Roma Primavera 1: Red Flag

Sunday, Milan Primavera lost 1-0 to Roma Primavera at the House of Puma, their second consecutive loss. Worse still, they ended on nine men, with two players having been sent off. Last season, Renna's Primavera became more inconsistent toward the end of the season, which led to an 11th place finish in the league, well below the previous year's sixth place finish under Federico Guidi. Already this season, with two wins, a draw, and a loss, Milan Primavera sit in tenth place. And with back-to-back losses now, and four red cards in just five matches, it begs the question: is all of this a giant red flag for their season?

Was this just another poor match? Or does Renna have some real problems on his hands?

Milan-Lecce Preview: Changing History

Saturday marked the 100th anniversary of the San Siro's inaugural match, a stadium with so much history. Yet after Wednesday's shameful display in the Europa League, it is hard to imagine a Milan that will be able to honor such an occasion. Particularly when facing Lecce, a team that finished 17th last season, narrowly avoiding the drop, since smaller teams have been Milan's Kryptonite in recent years. Amorim came under fire this week for increasingly poor performances which coincided with his increasing number of changes to his starting 11 each match. Which means the pressure is on for him to win this one or risk negatively changing history.

Rewriting the history of Milan and the San Siro for the worse.

AC Milan 0, Benfica 2: Bankrupt of European DNA

Seeing Rui Costa and Jose Altafini at the San Siro were just painful reminders of what Milan used to be. And then the match happened. This club could not be further from its European history at this point. An American owner who did not even know about its European history, who purged management this summer of anyone who knew anything about football, and insisted (once again,) on bringing in a foreign manager. That foreign manager, of course, played for Benfica, so he must be feeling a special kind of pain after Milan suffered a humiliating 2-0 loss to Benfica at San Siro. Except it was his choices that derailed te team in the first place, and I'm not entirely convinced he understands what Milan DNA is, either. This club has become completely bankrupt of all European DNA.

Even the best players struggle to win in Europe because Milan no longer has European DNA.

Milan Futuro 2, Brusaporto 1: Tenacious Victory

This match may have only been Milan Futuro's third match of the Serie D season, but it was their fifth match in 17 days, which included a trip to England for their win over Everton U21. And while it might seem that tired legs would prevail, it seemed a little more like practice makes perfect. After their 2-1 victory over Brusaporto, Coach Navarro noted that the first half was probably their best so far, and I would have to agree. And while the second half was a different story as perhaps a bit of fatigue did kick in, Milan Futuro pulled it off. A hard-fought midweek tenacious victory.

Milan Futuro celebrate the winning goal in the 90th minute after a tenacious second half.

Europa League Group Stage: Milan-Benfica Preview: Duel of the Fates

While Milan did not qualify for the Champions League this season like they wanted to, their Europa League campaign begins Wednesday night at the San Siro. In a twist of fate, Milan are facing a very familiar European opponent, S.L. Benfica. Milan have faced off with them a number of times, and defeated Benfica in both 1963 and 1990 to win the European Champion Cup (now known as Champions League.) However, that is hardly the only way our clubs are intertwined. Former Milan Legend Rui Costa is now the President of Benfica, while our manager, Amorim, played much of his career for Benfica. We also have two of our players, Ramos and Moreira, who both got their starts at Benfica as well. But in the new Europa League format, only one team can take home all three points on Wednesday. So this match can really be seen as the duel of the fates.

Milan legend Rui Costa returns to San Siro in the Europa League as Benfica's President.

Lazio 2, Milan 2: Choices

We all make choices. Some fans regret the choice of watching Milan since Gerald Cardinale bought the club, for example. But there is one person whose choices affect the match, the results, and the players' mentality. That man right now, of course, is Rúben Amorim. And while people loved his prematch press conference, his decisions in his lineups cost us dearly. On the surface, we dropped points in our 2-2 draw with Lazio, despite wearing the sleek new black third kits. However, we have seen in the past how much decisions like this early in the season can be costly throughout the season, or how the loss of points can even determine our fate on the Serie A table at the end of the year. Which is why, as a manager especially, it is so important to make the right choices.

The second half was the Moreira Show.

Pro Palazzolo 2, Milan Futuro 0: Falling Down

Milan Futuro did not get the result they wanted on their trip to Pro Palazzolo on Sunday. And it's not like they did not play well, either, because they created a lot of chances and should have maybe at least gotten a goal or more. But the match ended 2-0 for Pro Palazzolo after the home side scored two quick goals in the first half. And, being only week two, this result obviously already sent Milan Futuro falling down the table in Group B.

Milan Futuro's starting 11 in the new third kits.

Verona Primavera 2, Milan Primavera 0: Sudden Impact

Renna's Primavera were down a goal and needing at least an equalizer, so he tried to make impact subs. And he did, just not the impact he would have wanted. After conceding the goal in the first half, Leonardo Colombo was one of his subs in the 65th minute. Less than 10 minutes later, he was shown a yellow card. and ten minutes after that, he was shown a second yellow card for fouling a Verona player from behind, so was sent off, leaving Milan on ten men, and significantly reducing their chances of changing the scoreline in their favor. Verona capitalized on that, scoring a late goal and defeating Milan Primavera 2-0 in their house. This is, unfortunately, what you call a sudden impact.

Primavera players during pitch inspection ahead of the match.

Lazio-Milan Preview: Sometimes Maybe Good, Sometimes Maybe...

Not gonna lie, I absolutely hate facing teams managed by our former heroes. And Gattuso not only played for Milan, but he was later a manager, too. (When he wasn't moonlighting as my favorite football-stealing gang boss). So Saturday evening, when we meet Gattuso's Lazio, it will definitely be emotional. Even worse that, not even worried about the volatile Lazio fanbase, he spoke this week about Milan as "the team of his heart." Just kill me now, please. And it gets worse. His Lazio side have a perfect  record as they host our Milan, who are sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe...

What I look like every time we have to face Gattuso.

Juventus 1, Milan 1: The Terracciano Effect

Look, I'm not saying that Milan dropping points was directly Terracciano's fault. But, Milan had successfully held Juve off for 88 minutes when Filippo Terracciano was subbed on. Less then three minutes later, we conceded. Coincidence? I think not. Milan had the win in the bag. But in stoppage time, Juve literally let the cats (Gatti) out of the bag, and Milan had to settle for the 1-1 draw to the Old Lady and only one point. People can blame whomever or whatever they want, and sure, Juve were better for much of the match. But as for me, I'm definitely putting the blame for Milan coming home with only one point on the Terracciano Effect™.

Our youngest player on the pitch scored, but young Terracciano's presence alone helped us drop points.

Milan Futuro 4, Caldiero Terme 3: Never Say Die

Coming off of their truly impressive win over Everton U21 midweek, Milan Futuro defeated Caldiero Terme 4-3 at home in a very exciting match with plenty of goals for everyone. After going down a goal at the end of the first half, Milan wreaked havoc on Caldiero's goal, scoring four unanswered goals before the 70 minute mark. And it's good that they did, too, because Caldiero Terme tried to make a comeback with two more goals, but at the final whistle, they were still a goal short. Because Milan Futuro never say die.

The four goalscorers: Plazzotta, Ossola, Borsani, and Silvano Vos

Milan Primavera 2, Juve Primavera 0: Crushing It

The Milan Primavera team destroyed Juve's Primavera on Sunday, with a 2-0 win at home. Renna's boys scored two first half goals and never looked back, pushing them into top four in the Campionato Primavera 1. Despite their somewhat disappointing draw away to Cesena the week before, winning two of three of their first matches means they are crushing it.

Crushing it.

Juventus-Milan Preview: The Bald and the Beautiful

Milan travel to Turin for the second time in three matches, this time to take on the Old Lady. And no, I'm not talking about the fabulous Trixie and Katya on the podcast called The Bald and the Beautiful. I'm talking about La Vecchia Signora (the Old Lady), Juventus. And the bald, of course, is Spalletti, Juve's manager in his second year at the club, and the beautiful is Milan, led by Amorim's beautiful, refreshing attacking football. But who could possibly win in such a matchup? Both clubs spent big but also had less than ideal transfer windows, although one (Spalletti), of course, is bitching about it, and the other (Amorim), of course, is grateful for the players he has. But I guess that's the difference between being old and bald and young and optimistic. Or the difference between the bald and the beautiful.

Experience can help, but it can also cloud your vision.

Everton U21 1, Milan Futuro 2: It's Coming Home

In a drastic improvement from the team who were knocked out of the Coppa Italia Serie D on Sunday, Milan Futuro defeated Everton U21 2-1 at Goodison Park on Wednesday. This was the first match for Milan in the Premier League International Cup U21, a competition meant to give U21 teams from England and around Europe the opportunity to compete with one another. And while I was deeply concerned that this would be an unmitigated disaster for Milan Futuro, they proved absolutely the opposite. Not only do they deserve to be there, not only will they even be competitive, but by the end of the tournament, perhaps they will be able to taunt the English sides with the chant, "It's coming home."

Ossola and teammates celebrate his winning goal.

Cesena Primavera 1, Milan Primavera 1: The Status Quo

After a thrilling opening match victory over Torino, Milan Primavera returned to the status quo with a 1-1 draw away to Cesena on Sunday. Renna's boys conceded an early goal, then equalized, and fought for the rest of the match to try to find a winner, but were unable to. Just like last season. While the first team's opening match with Torino reminded us of the Primavera manager we once had in Abate, this match reminded us of where we are now: the status quo.

Nolli and Grassini celebrate the equalizing goal.

Coppa Italia Serie D • Milan Futuro 1, Sant'Angelo 3: The Future is Bleak

Anyone who has followed the saga of AC Milan since one Gerald Cardinale purchased the club when Milan had just won the Scudetto in 2022 knows that there have been systemic problems in the management of the club, starting with Gerald and ending with anyone he can ignorantly hire then blame for Milan's demise. But when he put Zlatan Ibrahimović in charge of the Milan Futuro project, and he in turn hired his buddy, failed LA Galaxy Sporting Director Jovan Kirovski, the "future" of Milan was truly doomed. In their first season in Serie C as a U23 team, they managed to take the most valuable team of all 60 Serie C teams, invest the most of any Serie C club into Milan Futuro as well, and myopically get them relegated to Serie D. Do you have any idea how tragically bad at your job you have to be to fail so catastrophically? And now, after finishing fourth in their Serie D group last year, they lost the playoff semifinal to Chievo Verona in stoppage time, and Massimo Oddo resigned this summer. Now they have lost their very first match of the season, being knocked out in the first round of the Coppa Italia Serie D with a 3-1 loss at home to ACD Sant'Angelo 1907. The future is bleak.

Perera jumps over Sant'Angelo defender, a perfect metaphor for how hard Futuro work and still they lose.