AC Milan’s struggles in 2023 have been well documented, but they can perhaps be best summarised by the four derbies they have played against city rivals Inter across three competitions.
There are three games left and Milan’s season will end soon, and it is already looking like it will fizzle out into being a less than memorable year after they won the Scudetto in the previous season, even though the Rossoneri returned to the semi-finals of the Champions League after 16 years.
The problem with getting to the final four is that it set up such a tense and high-stakes battle with Inter. A possible path to the final some might say, but in the end the Nerazzurri walked away 3-0 winners having mentally and tactically dominated.
If you thought that would happen and that it would be the blue side of the Navigli celebrating after the two matches, GGBet betting can help you back your hunch.
Stefano Pioli’s team never gave the impression of having the countermeasures to stop Inter’s plan, which was to soak up pressure and utilise their attacking weapons at the other end, while the Rossoneri also offered very little in the way of threat going the other way.
However, this didn’t just happen in the two EuroDerbys either, but also in the Supercoppa Italiana in January when Inter won 3-0. That was a game in which Milan never put Andre Onana in any trouble, a bit like the derby came a month later in the league and finished 1-0 for Inzaghi’s side with zero shots on target.
Despite this, Milan’s season obviously isn’t restricted to the four derbies they lost without much of a fight, but because of a consistency in results that never existed.
The Rossoneri haven’t won consecutive games since February when they played with a three-man defence, beating Tottenham, Atalanta and Monza. On the pitch it seems that a disorganised and goal-seeking team are getting worse, and the numbers show it: 34 goals conceded in 2023 in all competitions, only 29 scored.
Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu who have not been able to keep their levels as high as the end of last season, and the attacking department have struggled increasingly. Olivier Giroud, for example, hasn’t scored in the league since 13 March.
Milan have just one win in their last six games and that came via a 2-0 victory against Lazio. Securing a Champions League spot is the main objective after losing the Scudetto in January, also to make a season full of disappointments less bitter.
There are three games left until the end of the season against Sampdoria, Juventus and Verona and these will perhaps be the defining ones not just for the team, but for the project Maldini, Massara and Pioli are pursuing.
The odds to make top4 are rather slim, so better for the fans to start making peace with it (the team needs to give their 100%, obtain three wins and wait for others to drop points).
To my opinion the biggest set back of this year was the poor football we displayed throughout; we totally lost the aggressive, high pressing, fluid and attractive motif of the last two years.
UCL semi final is an overachievement (great to see it coming so soon) and if anything can be utilised to remind everyone where ACM truly belongs and at the same time what reinforcements are required to make sure this is not just a shooting star.