Since the inception of the Champions League in 1992, AC
Milan have played in Europe every single season except the 1997-98 and 1998-99
seasons. I barely even remember those years. I am so used to watching them play
in the Champions League that I still find myself searching my TV guide for
games even though I know I won’t find them. And although I was a proponent of
having no Europe this season to help us rebuild, and I believe strongly that it
is still needed, it still hurts, like a hole in my heart.
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| It used to be just another day at the office |
Fans of most clubs would be happy to have 18 Scudetti to
their club’s name. Or to even be in the top ten in the league after such a
rough couple of years. But that is the very least that is expected of AC Milan.
Our greatness and our legacy comes from the number seven on our Champions
League patches. Seven times we have lifted the Champions League trophy, second
only to Real Madrid. That’s a lot of trophies.
Trophies we won’t be competing for this season. As fans,
it’s hard to watch the European competitions without AC Milan. I typically don’t
like entitled fans, but after so many consecutive years competing in Europe,
it’s difficult not to feel a little entitled and a lot empty when it comes to
Europe and the Champions League.
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| A year of anger and a year of pain |
As the Curva Sud proudly displayed the choreography “A Year
of Anger to Return to Greatness” ahead of the match vs. Juventus, complete with
the Champions League emblem, it was a visual reminder for me of what I’ll be
missing this season. It also raised questions of whether or not Milan can
return to Europe in only one year. Five games in, we do sit in sixth place, but
can we stay in the chase for Europe after a whole season?
For me, it will be an even longer season, with long, empty
gaps midweek. Sure I will watch and support my fellow Serie A teams in hopes
that as a nation, Italy also returns to greatness. After Italy shot themselves
in the foot in 2006 with the Calciopoli
scandal, it just seems that we lose more ground each year. But it took until this season to break the
tradition of Milan in Europe. So I hope that
we can ‘return to greatness’ next season, because I don’t know how much more
red and black blood I can afford to lose through this hole in my heart.
This post inspired by the music of
The Cure’s “Disintegration” album
Our next match is
Milan vs. Chievo
Saturday, October 4th • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)