AC Milan failed to follow up their 2-0 loss against Inter in the Champions League semi-final first leg with a positive result or performance, losing to Spezia.
As Corriere della Sera (via MilanNews) reports, a reaction was expected from Milan against a Spezia side who had not won for two months, but instead they were dealt another 2-0 loss which now makes a top four spot seem far away.
Once again after a good victory like the one against Lazio last week, a disappointing result comes after in the league. Once again Milan failed to get three points against a ‘lesser’ team in the league, and now there are no alibis.
It is possible that the performance is linked to thinking too much about Tuesday’s return leg against Inter, and if so it wouldn’t be a justification at all but rather a problem.
In addition, even with seven absentees Pioli had to field many starters and nevertheless even with a much stronger team on paper, Milan were unable to get anything out of the game.
If this is the trend and the state of form, a comeback in the Champions League seems very difficult and it is looking like they might not even make the next edition of the competition.
Milan have slipped to four points from fourth place and with only 9 points available – including a direct clash against Max Allegri’s Juventus – the chances of playing in the next Champions League is getting slimmer and slimmer.
The owner Gerry Cardinale had underlined the importance of qualifying and actually not doing so would be a significant economic loss of at least €50m. Now, a reset is needed, hopefully spurred on by the return of Rafael Leao.
