AC Milan will play the final game of their 2024-25 season on Saturday night as they take on already relegated Monza at San Siro.
The curtain will fall on Milan’s campaign in quite a sad way, after back-to-back defeats at the Stadio Olimpico really knocked the wind out of their sails and fully stamped out any slim hopes of securing a European spot.
Sergio Conceicao won’t even be present for what should be his last game in charge as he received a red card in the last round, while he did not do a press conference on the eve of the game either.
Game date: Saturday, May 24
Kick-off time: 20:45 (CEST)
Venue: San Siro
Referee: Daniele Rutella (VAR: Ghersini)
Team news
As mentioned, there is nothing to play for with regards to European qualification for 2025-26. In fact, all that remains is to try and leapfrog Fiorentina into eighth place which means a Coppa Italia game in August would be avoided.
A 1-0 Coppa Italia defeat against Bologna last Wednesday felt like the beginning of the end for the Conceicao era, and the red card he got during the final moments of the 3-1 league loss against Roma on Sunday night only compounded that feeling.
In addition to the suspension that Conceicao will serve, there will be no Santiago Gimenez for this game. He got a red card and a one-game ban after elbowing Gianluca Mancini, which VAR picked up on.
Preparations for the final game of the season got underway at Milanello on Tuesday. Theo Hernandez rejoined full training with the rest of the squad on Friday after the blow to his left thigh that caused him to miss the trip to the capital.
It is believed that Warren Bondo and Samuel Chukwueze could both return having also missed out against the Giallorossi, but it is a different story for Kyle Walker who is not yet at his best and might have already played his last game for the club.
As per reports, Conceicao is thinking of giving some playing time to those who could benefit most from it, including Francesco Camarda. With Milan Futuro having been relegated there is more availability, but the Primavera are in the Scudetto play-offs which take place in the coming days.
The major storyline is about the players for whom it could be their last San Siro appearance. The likes of Theo, Mike Maignan, Rafael Leao, Tijjani Reijnders, Christian Pulisic and more continue to be linked with exits after a dismal 2024-25 for the team, so there could be some farewells.
According to the latest, the big news is that Camarda will indeed be in the team from the first minute with the hope that he will also score his first goal in Serie A, and Davide Bartesaghi should get the nod at left wing-back.
Manchester City are pushing to have Reijnders available immediately for the Club World Cup but he is still focused on Milan. Against Monza the Dutchman will be a starter in a match that the fans hope will not be his last at San Siro, alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Malick Thiaw, Matteo Gabbia and Strahinja Pavlovic should get the nod in front of Marco Sportiello with Mike Maignan relegated to the bench. Conceicao seems inclined to deploy his protégé Joao Felix from the first minute again, with Rafael Leao benched, and Christian Pulisic completing the side.
Predicted Milan XI (3-4-3) per Gazzetta: Sportiello; Thiaw, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Jimenez, Reijnders, Loftus-Cheek, Bartesaghi; Pulisic, Camarda, Joao Felix.
Predicted Milan XI (3-4-3) per MilanNews: Sportiello; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Musah, Reijnders, Loftus-Cheek, Bartesaghi; Pulisic, Joao Felix/Camarda, Jovic.
The opponents
We went through the moves that Monza made over the summer in our preview of the meeting at the U-Power Stadium last November, as they looked to build on an impressive first season back in Serie A.
It would be fair to say that things have not gone to plan for Monza, who were relegated several games ago and currently sit on 18 points. They have won only three times in the league, with nine draws, 25 losses, just 28 goals scored and a whopping 67 against.
The three victories they did obtain came against Verona on October 21, Fiorentina on January 13 and Udinese on May 11, meaning they went months at a time without winning. Around that there are a lot of losses, with draws against Fiorentina, Inter and Roma the only highlights.
The Brianzoli have had two different head coaches this season across three spells, with Alessandro Nesta serving until 23 December, then Salvatore Bochetti until 10 February – another ex-Milan centre-back – before Nesta came back for another go.
There are many links between Milan and Monza, from the Berlusconi family to Adriano Galliani, from Nesta as coach to Kevin Zeroli in midfield, so to see them drop back to Serie B without much of a fight is what few fans wanted to see.
Monza are dealing with several injury doubts ahead of their season finale, with Nesta unlikely to take any risks. Defenders Armando Izzo and Danilo D’Ambrosio should miss out, as should midfield duo Roberto Gagliardini and Matteo Pessina, plus forward Omari Forson.
Predicted Monza XI (3-5-2): Pizzignacco; Pereira, Palacios, Carboni; Birindelli, Castrovilli, Bianco, Akpa-Akpro, Kyriakopoulos; Keita, Caprari.
Head to head
Milan have played against Monza just 16 times across all competitions in their 125-year history with 14 of those being wins and two being defeats, of which one came last season.
That particular game opened up a crisis for Milan as Matteo Pessina and Dany Mota put Monza 2-0 up at the U-Power Stadium, then Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic pulled it back to 2-2.
Warren Bondo and Lorenzo Colombo – the former now at Milan, the latter on loan from Milan at the time – scored late on to seal a memorable 4-2 home win.
Earlier this season, Tijjani Reijnders scored the only goal of the game, reacting well to a ricochet inside the box to secure a 1-0 victory for the Rossoneri.
Key stats and facts
➤ There have been no draws between Milan and Monza in their five Serie A meetings, with the Rossoneri claiming four wins and suffering one defeat to the Brianzoli; these five matches have also had an average of 3.2 goals scored per game.
➤ The two Serie A matches played at the San Siro between Milan and Monza have been won by the
Rossoneri by an aggregate score of 7-1; only against Atalanta (10) and Roma (8) have the Brianzoli conceded more away goals in the top-flight.
➤ Milan are guaranteed to finish the Serie A season outside of the qualification places for an European competition for the first time since 2015/16, when they ended 7th in the standings.
➤ Milan have lost 16 games in 2024/25 across all competitions and only in three previous seasons in
their entire history have they recorded more defeats (since 1929/30): 17 in each of 2013/14, 1996/97 and 1973/74.
➤ Milan have won only eight home matches in the league this season (D7 L3) and across the previous 20 seasons (since 2004/05), only twice did they fail to achieve at least nine home wins in a single Serie A campaign: eight in both 2007/08 and 2020/21.
➤ Should they lost this match, Monza will end the season with just 18 points: in the three points for a win era, only four teams have finished a Serie A season with fewer: Brescia 12 in 1994/95, Napoli 14 in 1997/98 Ancona 13 in 2003/04 and Salernitana 17 in 2023/24.
➤ Monza won their last away match (2-1 vs Udinese) after suffering 10 consecutive defeats away from home in Serie A prior; the Brianzoli haven’t recorded two away wins in a row in the league since doing so between February and March 2024 (against Salernitana and Genoa).
➤ Gianluca Caprari has been involved in a goal in both of his last two Serie A appearances (one goal, one assist) and he could be involved in at least one goal in three games in a row in the competition for the first time since doing so between January and February 2022 for Hellas Verona (4 in a row).
➤ Monza are one of the two teams (along with Empoli) against which Tiliani Reinders has scored more than one goal in Serie A (2 vs both); with 10 goals and four assists, the Dutchman could become the first AC Milan central midfielder to be involved in at least 15 goals in a top-flight campaign since Franck Kessie in 2020/21 (17).
➤ With a goal in this match Christian Pulisic would equal his own scoring record in a season in the big five European leagues (12 with AC Milan in 2023/24), while with a goal or assist he would surpass his record for goal involvements in these competitions with his 20 in the 2024/25 Serie A campaign (11G 9A) the same as he managed in 2023-24 (12G 8A).
Ones to watch
This is more about mannerisms than anything else, but the current idea is that Matteo Gabbia will captain the side tomorrow night, so he, on any other occasion, would obviously be the main one to watch. The Italian deserves the armband, if only for one game, and tomorrow will be a chance to see how he can handle the team, and maybe even San Siro.
Then, the obvious one. Francesco Camarda is the one to watch here. Since making his debut last season, there has been a constant expectation for him to shine. However, with nothing to play for, the weight is off his shoulders. If anything, this is a trial run for next season. If he does well, who knows what the future may hold…
We’re also going to break the rules a little here and put forward three Milan players. Davide Bartesaghi is the other obvious contender to watch, with Theo Hernandez set to be benched again. After renewing this week, it is a reward and a chance to impress, like Camarda, if he does well, who knows what may be in store.
Then, for Monza, it is, admittedly, difficult to find someone to watch out for after a tough year at the bottom of Serie A. However, Georgios Kyriakopoulos could be a bit of a danger to the Rossoneri’s right-hand side.
Prediction
It feels like Milan have an obligation to put on a show for their fans and to try end the season well. Even if there is nothing to play for on paper, the youngsters that get a chance will be keen to impress, and we think Camarda will get his first ever senior goal.
Prediction: AC Milan 3-0 Monza
bold of you to assume we’ll win
For the lack of anything to watch on tv I’m watching Como vs. Inter with one eye but damn I feel sorry for Pepe Reina getting red carded even if a correct one in his farewell match before his retirement.
Same. Congrats to Napoli (was watching that game instead). I’m so glad they won it and not bottle to give the snakes another Scudetto. Btw incoming side rant lol 🤣
I was a bit too lazy to stream that match but did also watch the last 10 minutes of it on pc to see Naples go crazy, while also watching the Inter players disapointed on tv 😀
Me too I generally always cheers on teams that isn’t in direct competion with us or for trophies but obviously Inter really isnt a team I cheer for to begin with.
Watched the highlights afterwards and what a goal by Mc tomminay whom I always felt was somewhat under appreciated in England, what a season for him, wish we had gotten him.
Yeah I’m sure there will be some incoming ranting 😀
Omg I totally forgot to watch the tears of Inter players once more this season..it’s quite enjoyable haha 😂…it’s been the only saving grace. My brother is a Man Utd fan, so I end up watching as many United games as Milan. And yes, most man it’s fans never wanted McSauce to leave. He shows up with important goals and it continued for Napoli too. And he’s improved his defending….Serie A does that to people sometimes. Happy for him, happy for Napoli especially over Inter, they’re not enemies of ours imo. And we’re left here wondering what could have been sigh
😀 At least that was worth watching the match for.
He will probably be a contender for the mvp this year so certainly a great buy for them.
I definitely prefer Napoli winning the scudetto rather than Inter but when that is said I do recall their fans throwing stuff after Milan fans a few years ago and the Curva Sud with their Pulcinella tifo which really didnt leave an impression of love from our supporters either. Napoli is a historically smaller club so good for them winning.
😀 I was a bit too quick here apparently as it has actually been decided an yes it is him.
And Okafor returns this summer with a Scudetto medal in his bags.
Conte wanted to come to us and asked for €6.5 million salary plus €2 million if he wins the league…and we said to munch, so Napoli aggred to pay him, and tonight Napoli are the champions….. Imbrahimovic and the entire management and the CEO has to go….
Side rant…So this season we cheaped out and found out! We could have gotten Conte for what 6m per season but instead got Fonsy for 3 and Sarge for another 1-2m…so I guess yay we saved a mil or so. Tell y’all to get both him and Lukaku but nah…salary too high but we ran through 3 different strikers this season, still don’t know who is our starting striker, and had to gamble a whole 35m on an Eredivisie one. While Napoli celebrating a Scudetto and UCL qualification for next year, we’re trophyless (super Copa meh), languishing in 9th and less money next year. Pennywise pound fo.0lish management. It’s easy to be top 4 is what they thought.. Maldini did so and he was rookie, so ANYONE could do it, right? Gross miscalculation of epic proportions!
We bought players and shipped them 6 months after. Tried to pull the ol’ shiny toys thingy they did the summer we sold Tonali during this winter Mercato. Moved around the musical chairs from their own inept summer transfer window signings (that’s not an opinion btw, that’s what THEY did). Still dont even know which formation we play or intend to.
Also it seems most of our players who we sent away either won something meaningful or on the verge of important things. Calabria is a double trophy winner this season , the most of any player in the league lol. Okafor celebrating with Napoli Scudetto, Saladmaker on the verge of Europa with Roma after they were well below us, Kalulu on the verge of UCL with Juve smh . Well done management 👌clueless bunch!!