AC Milan beat their bitter rivals Inter by three goals to nil on Wednesday night, and the Rossoneri will now face Bologna or Empoli in the Coppa Italia final.
The season has been full of mixed emotions for everybody related to Milan, but one of the positives was that the Rossoneri finally found a way to get the better of city rivals Inter after struggling for a couple of seasons.
This season, the two have played five times, twice in the league, twice in the cup and once in the Supercoppa Italiana, with Milan prevailing in three out of the games and drawing twice.
To top it off, this win was both huge as the scoreline was 3-0 at FT and it resulted in Milan reaching the Coppa Italia final, something they haven’t done in the past seven years. Now, they can dream of winning it for the first time in more than 20 years, additionally, it will give the team a chance to win a second trophy.
In a season where Milan have struggled a lot both in Serie A and the Champions League, if they win the Coppa Italia, it will also mean that the team will qualify for the Europa League next season, which at this point in time looks difficult through the Serie A standings.
But let’s focus on the game against Inter for the time being. Truth be told, the Nerazzurri started off the game better than their city rivals and were the better team in the first half, but struggled in front of goal and failed to threaten Mike Maignan.
Milan then opened up the score with their first big chance, with Luka Jovic heading the ball into the back of the net following a lovely cross from Alex Jimenez.
In the second half, Milan grew into the game further and started creating plenty of chances, which resulted in Jovic picking up his second goal in the 50th minute to double his side’s lead.
Inter were never going to give up, but the Milan defence did well to contain them and deserve credit for such. Their only ‘real’ big chance to claw things back came when Stefan de Vrij headed the ball well after a corner kick, but Maignan showcased great reflexes to save the shot and keep a clean sheet.
In the 85th minute, Tijjani Reijnders killed off the game with a 3rd goal after a lovely combination that sent Milan into the final, where the Rossoneri will most likely face Bologna on the 14th of May.
Here are five things we learned:
1. 3-4-3 gives Milan defensive stability
The formation has been tried a few times now by Sergio Conceicao and overall it has been really positive for the team, with the negative result coming against Atalanta. Even then though, it was not a fault of the system, but rather sloppy individual mistakes.
Against Inter, the defence was up to the challenge and excluding maybe a couple of dangerous chances, it was smooth sailing for the majority of the game. It was also refreshing to see Fikayo Tomori and Matteo Gabbia with such commanding performances, whilst Pavlovic also did well, although he was a bit sloppy at times when on the ball.
Alex Jimenez and Theo Hernandez also did well to track back, and it was a masterclass in the end by Conceicao and his men.
2. Maignan steps up when it matters
The Frenchman has had a mixed season, to say the least, and Milan needed his best version if they were to beat Inter and reach the final.
Despite not needing him that much in the first half, Maignan did well to get off his line and collect a lot of balls, whilst he also distributed the ball well and managed the tempo superbly in the second half when his team was ahead.
In the crucial moment, when he had to make the save from de Vrij’s header, he did so brilliantly to keep the 2 goal cushion for his side.
A leader’s performance by the keeper and a performance that showcases how good he actually is, but he will need to be consistently at this level in the future too.
3. Pulisic and Leao struggle
There weren’t really poor performers on the night for Milan, but the sense is that Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic could’ve done a bit more in the attacking phase.
Both worked hard in the defensive phase and tracked back a lot, especially the Portuguese, as it was evident he wanted to help as much as he can – something which made Theo’s life easier as he always had his teammate to help him cover the empty spaces.
But in attack, Leao was slightly disappointing and rather frustrating, really. He often failed to get past his man, and on the few occasions he could’ve escaped from the defender and ended up 1-v-1 against the keeper, he failed to be decisive.
One situation in particular was when his first touch was really poor and didn’t allow him to burst towards goal on the counter. If his initial touch was better, he would’ve easily beaten the defender for pace, but he failed to.
Eventually, the Portuguese did get an assist on the third goal, but the feeling was that Milan could’ve scored a few more if the efficiency was there from Leao.
4. Mamma Mia Jovic
The Serb has been looking great lately and was on fire against Inter.
He was heavily involved in the opener as he dropped back and distributed the ball well towards the flank and then found the space in the box to finish off the attack himself. Textbook stuff there from the number 9.
Then he reacted well on the corner to slot it in for his second goal of the game and the second for Milan. Following the brace, he continued to combine well and show desire, as well as dropping deep into his own half to keep the ball.
🇷🇸 Luka Jovic's brace against Inter from the sidelines ⚽️⚽️pic.twitter.com/EPTcV9mYfY
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) April 24, 2025
Furthermore, he also showed great composure even when surrounded by Inter players and managed to keep the ball and switch the flanks easily, which was very pleasant to watch.
If he has a couple of more games like this one until the end of the season, Milan might think of keeping him around next season as well, but a lot will depend on the coach.
5. Conceicao in the search for a strong finale
The coach has been speculated to leave Milan pretty much since he joined, barring the first month or so of his tenure. But he has shown some positive qualities, as well as winning the Super Cup after two impressive comebacks.
Then, unfortunately, the team dropped out of the Champions League after three really poor games, two of which were in the play-offs against Feyenoord and then the downtrend continued in the league as the Rossoneri currently sit 9th and seem to be conceding first and always early in most of the games.
But there’s the element of character that the Portuguese coach has brought, and the fact is that the team has reacted well several times after being behind in the score, with a lot of those times even resulting in a win.
If Milan were to win the Coppa Italia, Conceicao will also have managed to win two trophies in less than six months, whilst also achieving a much-needed Europa League qualification.
So without a doubt when the management sit around the table at the end of the season it will be a very interesting review of Conceicao’s work and the coach will be looking to achieve that Coppa Italia dream which might just tempt the management to give him a full pre-season and a transfer window and see how thing might play out.
Sergio is far from what Milan need as a coach. However, if not a proven alternative emerges, it is better to keep him and give him the summer for a full pre-season without pressure, than to make more gambles with the coach position.
If only we could play Inter every game…
Bringing Conceicao back would be a monumental mistake. Under him Milan has played some of the ugliest football I’ve ever seen , even when they win. And giving him another transfer window would be a huge mistake. We’d get a few more Jao Felixs coming in here. A team full of grabbers and divers like his Porto teams. No thank you.
If Milan do win the Copa Italia it does bring up some interesting questions about this nightmarish season. It would be interesting to see how people evaluate a season in which they played so poorly, finish 7th or 8th in the table but win 2 trophies…
Is it better than last season where they finished 2nd but won no trophies?
Let’s say Inter finish 2nd to Napoli in the Scudetto and say they make it finals of Champions League but lose the final and finish with zero trophies this season. Would you rather have Milan’s season with 2 trophies??? I would not but it does make for an interesting argument.
I agree that finishing 2nd in Serie A with Pioli is better than winning Coppa&Supercoppa and finishing 7th in Serie A. This is a disaster season for Milan, no doubt.
My point is: if Conte or another proven coach is available, then firing Sergio is a great idea. If, on the other hand, the available options are de Zerbi and the likes, it is not worth making as a gamble IMO. Milan need to get a proven coach, otherwise getting a new unproven one might create a bigger mess than the current one. You see, Fonseca got fired, but the dubious Sergio did not do any better.
7th place was Achieved with Fonseca at the helm. Conceicao could have done better over the past two or three months, but since January 2nd, Milan has been playing a game every 3 or 4 days, something Inter now know very well (although they got two midweeks of rest during the UCL playoffs).
It’s no surprise that the upturn in fortunes and tactics started happening after the Lazio match, as before then there was no time for Sergio to implement anything other than getting the team to play basic football.
I don’t blame Milan’s current league position on Conceicao. If anything, he’s managed to pace the players up to this point to perform in the Cup ties.
If it had not been for Gabbia’s slip under no pressure and Musah’s foolish red card against Zagreb, or Theo’s foolish red card against Feyenoord, then we might have been singing a different story in the UCL. Those individual errors, however, were not on Conceicao. Those were individual player errors.
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It’s not just about the result but the way team is managed. No tactics, no ideas it was worse under conceicao than Fonseca.
For this reason we cannot proceed with Conceicao and also he have no professional behavior how to manage his own player’s, there is something very important in Italy which is professionalism and respect.
Conceicao lacks a lot to manage big teams,big player’s.
💯. On point! Individual mistakes cost us more than Conceicao’ s tactics
As they say, sometimes it is better to dance with the devil you know.
I would rather win trophies than come second. History only remembers winners.
Football is about trophies. Participation in the UCL is just that, Participation! There can be only one winner.
I wouldn’t characterize the coach as DUBIOUS.
Exactly. Conceicao has won a trophy in each of his last six or seven seasons.
He’s a coach that will make his teams fight to win things.
Fans that talk about his record in the league are heavily discounting all the errors those players of his make. He put the best players out there, it’s not his fault they disappoint him. He didn’t expect Pavlovic-Gabbia pairing would concede 12 goals in 7 matches.
Curiously though, what are the five things learned in sempreinter ?
It must be interesting to not win a single time against a team ranked 9th that was eliminated by Feyenoord ?
Milan players have the frustration of what happened last season, i.e. Inter won the 2nd star before their eyes, hence they are playing so well.
What really matters is that the team has been fighting in every competition, and reached the top 4 in the UCL. Then when you fight on all fronts you are gambling, as you might get tired and win no silverware in the end. Even if we win nothing, it is better to be near the top in both Europe and Italy, than to just win a Coppa and/or a Supercoppa. If we win the Scudetto and finish the UCL campaign in a respectable way (i.e. no thrashing from Barca or in the final) , I could not care less how many times we lost vs Milan. Last season we lost twice vs Sassuolo, but it was just a detail in the end. Kudos to Milan though as they have played good games vs us, especially yesterday it was a big performance and a 3-0 thrashing.
If you want to learn about SempreInter, you are free to visit the site 😉
I usually go there to make fun of them @Sempreinter until they barred me from logging in, till date I can’t access the site.
With “make fun of them” you mean trolling? Some time ago they deleted a comment of mine where I criticized them for writing some low-quality content, but otherwise I have not had any issue with commenting there, and Milan fans too comment there once in a while. So the ban might be your fault.
Why do I have to always agree to all your takes and opinion 🤦🏽
“Inter won the 2nd star before their eyes, hence they are playing so well.”
Frankly I don’t understand how can someone proudly say that inter has won the 2nd star. I have some friends who are inter fans who are not proud of how the 2005/06 scudetto was awarded to them. If you want to claim that Juventus deserved to be stripped of that one, then at least they should have kept it a scudetto with no winner, like the 2004/05 scudetto.
On the pitch, till date, inter has won 19 scudetti.
Changing coach would be stupid. Three coaches in two seasons? Sergio will come good if given time and I refer to a full preseason with the squad. Bringing in a new coach will mean that the players will have to learn a new way of playing and will probably struggle again. The team is beginning to gel along with the coach. Expecting Conceicao to perform miracles when in the last half of the season when the club from top level is in shambles. Look at Man U who tried many coaches and still it doesn’t work. So the coach is not the problem I think it’s the owner and the stupid management working under him. His biggest mistake was firing Maldini and Masara. I know they had their faults but they worked very well with the squad. Conceicao gets my blessing for next season.
The league performance has been horrible. Theo cost us the Champions league, but, as things stand, most fans have moved on from that. I like the fact that Conceicao can change formation, and gameplay. However, he gambles too much. The first thing as a new coach in Serie A is to shore up your defense. Our defense leak goals too easily. Our attack, too, is a problem. Most of our game revolves around Leao, who is not always reliable. Conceicao has been able to push our players, in order to get the best out of them. But, still, I have doubts about his ability to take Milan to the level they desire to be. If he wins the Coppa Italia, I think he deserves another chance.
PULUSIS HAS TO DEFEND THE ENTIRE GAME…THATS WHY OFFENSIVELY HE MAY BE LACKING ABIT….. DON T TELL ME ABOUT HIS RATE OF PLAY WHEN HE RUNS AND DEFENDS FOR THE TEAM (UNLIKE OTHERS ……THEO WHO JOGS BACK TO HIS POSITION AFTER MAKING A RUN FORWARD) SELL LAZY LAZY THEO ! PLAYED GOOD ??????????? WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING…
Agreed. The manager said as much. Do you think Pulisic will want to stay around if he can’t use his skill set? I don’t. He’ll ask to go somewhere else. I find it interesting that the talk of extending his contract has stopped.
If Pulisic finishes the season well while the team does not finish the season well (e.g. does not even qualify for Europa Leage), I think there’s a decent chance he leaves to go elsewhere for UCL football. He has played in the UCL almost every season of his career – it’s clear he loves that competition, has played many of his best games in that competition. I don’t think he should move on, not good for him or for the team, but I don’t think he necessarily gets along with Conceicao and it looks like Milan is headed for a longer period of coaching instability, which is not much fun for the players. So he has several reasons to consider leaving. At the same time, he has already made plenty of money in his career.
I don’t think the coach shuffling has helped. I feel like last year’s team would have challenged for a Scudetto this year. Inter is nowhere near as strong as last year and Napoli isn’t that great either. That’s why it’s such a shame that this year has been a waste. With a little luck, last year’s team could have won it this year. Instead, we’re about to try hiring a third coach…
PULISIC
The defence not too stable coz when tijjani hold the ball and move forward, fofana going forward too. That’s risky game when we lost the ball, the counter attack will ruin your defense.
Conceicao is still the best option. I know where is our position on the league.
But, in the last games, we have improved. And I think, most of our players are getting understand what Conceicao wants.
For me, the player who still can’t got in the scheme, is Leao. This man is very good under Pioli scheme. So he must find the right coach like Pioli.
But change Conceicao for next season, is a big risk. Except we can hire top class coach.
Give Conceicao chance, and give him players he want. Sell Leao to get money, and Ibra with his gangs, dont interfere the team’s harmony.
Conceicao should be fired. It’s mind blowing that it took him this long to change the formation when it very was obvious the 4231 was very unbalanced. You put Theo,Tijani and leao on the left who all have low defensive workrate and awareness. Teams easily figured it out and attacked us through the left. Pioli overcame this by putting kessie on the left and instructing him to cover the lapses on the left. Even in this 343 he still puts Tijani on the left instead of the right and instructing him to pass to the right,so our attack is unpredictable.
With this constant rookie mistakes,I don’t think he’s a high level tactitian. We won’t always play inter. We need a better coach that understands the characteristics of his player and can put them in the best position to succeed
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If he win the copa italia give him a chance
If Conceicao wins coppa, he has won 2 thophies in 6 months. He is a winner and just needs a full pre-season to succeed!
Forza milano
My question is. What would you say about Ruben amori at Manchester united, nobody’s talking about firing him, he and conceciao came the same time and who’s doing better?
Yet nobody is blaming him. And he sir 7th and in a final he can win with a trophy already in his bag.
The first trophy we can say is luck the second, no one should dare say he doesn’t know how to win trophies, he’s a winner and his profile says so and it’s evident now in Milan.
Arsenal plays well and without trophy, so what’s the complain, he just only need to make the champions league and this season will turn out the best after pioli, finishing in the champions league spot and winning two trophy, I’ll say it’s a successful season, seeing what we have gone through so far before he came.
Actually, ManUtd are in fourteenth place. It’s hard to see a pattern of play with Utd. So, I wouldn’t want him.