Once home to some of the greatest players to have played in Europe, AC Milan is now struggling to qualify for the Europa League, let alone the Champions league.
Their season has been a mixed bag of challenges and achievements, with more than their fair share of obstacles. Their patchy form has resulted in them being outsiders to qualify for the Champions League according to every reliable online sports betting app, so how has it unravelled?
This season has been a struggle for the Italian giants, with influential players like Theo Hernandez, Mike Maignan and Rafael Leao experiencing dips in form and uncharacteristic errors. It’s fair to say AC Milan is well and truly in a rough patch, having lost their last game to Torino despite having 65% possession and 26 shots on target.
Not to mention their catastrophic knockout of the UEFA Champions league, with a 1-1 draw with Feyenoord on the 18th of February. This resulted in a 2-1 defeat on aggregate. This is the second time Milan has been eliminated from a UEFA Champions league knockout stage by a Dutch club – they previously lost the 1994-95 final to Ajax 1-0.
Regardless of their 2024-25 journey so far, one thing’s for sure – they’ve got a lot riding on their next games. The million-pound question – will they qualify for Europe at all?
The beginning of 2025 looked promising for the Italian team, with their last-minute victory over Inter Milan to win the Supercoppa Italiana on the 6th of January 2025, shortly after Sérgio Conceição was appointed head coach.
Things were continuing in the right direction for the Italian team with the exciting arrival of Kylie Walker who arrived on loan from Manchester City on 24th of January. The good times kept rolling with a last-minute 3-2 victory over Parma on the 26th of January and a 3-1 victory against Roma on the 5th of February, which catapulted them into the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.
But then it all started to come crashing down. Out of Kyle Walker’s six appearances for the club, Milan have only won three games. Plus his start with the Italian giants suffered a huge blow when they were knocked out of the Champions league by Feyenoord on 18th February.
After a tough double blow of losing against Torino on the 22nd of February while Juventus beat Cagliari on the 23rd of February, fourth place is still some way away. The loss against Torino also marked Christian Pulisic’s first penalty miss of his career. It left AC Milan in seventh place in Serie A – 16 points behind rivals Inter Milan at the top stop.
Eight points behind Juventus, the only way they can qualify for next year’s Champions league is to secure over two points for each game they have left. But as it stands, the team doesn’t look strong enough to do that.
In fact, even a spot in the Europa League is looking questionable as they’re still six points off a qualifying spot. But the team does have a game in hand, so they are still expected to qualify – at least according to the odds.
However, based on recent performances, the seed of doubt is certainly spreading. It’s clear there are some big managerial decisions needed, and Sérgio Conceição is determined not to give up.
His two months in Italy have perhaps been the most complicated of his entire coaching career. And while his performance is better than Fonseca, achieving 14 points in eight matches in Serie A, it’s still not enough to be considered satisfactory. Will the team sell the stars that are no longer performing their best? Or find a way to get Maignan, Theo and Leao back to a title-winning level?
From a gold studded start with the Supercoppa Italiana to a tumultuous few games and a knockout from the Champions league, it’s clear to see AC Milan haven’t had a consistent 2025 so far.
Overall, AC Milan have won more than they’ve lost in the 2024-25 season – they’ve secured 20 wins and nine draws, but still 10 losses. With some big games coming up still, with the likes of Lazio, Fiorentina and Bologna at home, AC Milan will need to pull all the stops out.
With the pressure mounting on securing Champions league places and, failing that, the Europa league, the pressure is on for Sérgio Conceição to make some changes and deliver.
It’s been a wild season with high highs and low lows for AC Milan. While the Champions league currently seems too far out of reach, there’s more hope they can secure a place in the Europa League.
With so much riding on the last games, anything can happen. Don’t miss a second of the the action.
