With Champions League qualification becoming an impossible mission after Sunday, there is even more pressure on AC Milan in the Coppa Italia.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, Milan have an even greater obligation not to mess up the first leg of the Coppa Italia derby. At stake is not only the possibility of going to the final in Rome on May 14 for the second trophy of the season, but also qualification for the next Europa League.
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Granted, back in August the minimum result was to enter the top four, but things went differently than the management had hoped. Now it is necessary to cling to the domestic cup in order not to go a year without European competitions. The last time it happened was in 2019-20, due to UEFA exclusion.
The great shame
With all their direct competitors having extended their lead in the table, reaching even qualification for the Conference League through a league finish is increasingly complicated for Milan, especially with Fiorentina, Atalanta, Bologna and Roma still to play.
The trend, at least in Serie A, was confirmed at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, while in cup competitions the Rossoneri’s progress has been better given that in the Champions League they achieved a feat against Real Madrid, then beating Juventus and Inter in the Supercoppa.
It is the Nerazzurri – against whom the trophy number 50 in the history of the club was raised to the sky in Riyadh – who must be faced next. Simone Inzaghi’s men would like to eliminate (or almost eliminate) their rivals’ chances of playing in Europe in 2025-26.
Millions at stake
The Europa League certainly doesn’t guarantee the money of the Champions League (this year over €60m have arrived from UEFA), but by going quite far, it can provide some satisfaction on an economic level.
Let’s say about €20m plus box office receipts, which is important money for the budget, like that which would be brought by lifting the cup (€11-12m in total) and participating in the next edition of the Super Cup.
Then there’s the issue related to the brand: not challenging the top clubs in Europe will be a bad blow and facing them in the next pre-season (on July 26 in Hong Kong a friendly vs. Liverpool; one against Arsenal in Singapore is also likely) is not a consolation, but perhaps one more reason for regret.
The mercato
The Europa League or the Conference League are not as attractive as the Champions League, especially for great players. What is worse though is having nothing at all.
The new sporting director will have a tough job as it is to reshape the squad, especially with a new head coach likely to come in too, and not having any European appeal would make the task more difficult.
If in the winter window Kyle Walker, Joao Felix and Santiago Gimenez chose the Diavolo with the prospect of making their way in the Champions League (a mission that then failed miserably), next summer others could choose a different path.
The players are not obligated to win anything. This is like any other 9-5 job, as long as the wages keep coming in, they only need to wear the jersey and play a miserable 90mins and go home to their families.
When players are treated like mere statistics, and not connected on a personal level, what you get is a set of disjointed “xG” data jogging around the pitch..
This Milan is finish product
Let’s see how Red Bird operate