Fans were very critical of how few games Ibrahimović was able to play this past season. When he did return from injury, he was not the same player. You could see he was giving everything he had, but many feared the tank was empty. As it turns out, he was suffering beyond what any of us could have imagined. After having surgery on Wednesday, he finally let us all know just what his sacrifices had been in order to keep his Scudetto promise.
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| A promise kept |
After five years of faithful and tireless service, Franck Kessié is leaving Milan. That is a sentence that I hoped I never had to type. He came to the club as a young talent and immediately won fans over with his power, strength, and skill, and the love only grew as he became such an important player for us during a time of so much turmoil off the pitch. His fun personality and his nickname that he gave himself that made him larger than life made him that much more beloved. While it is hard to see him go, we can only thank him and wish him well. Grazie, Presidente.
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| Going out on top |
Milan won their 19th Scudetto and celebrated with over a million fans in a victory parade through Milano. After 11 years of suffering, fans all over the world rejoiced together with this victory. To celebrate, I invited Frankie, who made the pilgrimage to Milano for the celebrations and shared with us what it was like to be in the middle of the beautiful mayhem.
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| Beautiful mayhem |
After waiting 11 years and suffering so much because of poor ownership decisions, the Milan fanbase was ready to celebrate this amazing young team's incredible Scudetto win. On Monday, the players, management, and sponsors boarded a couple of open top busses and spent over four hours wading through over a million spectators between Casa Milan and Piazza del Duomo for a massive Rossoneri party. The players got to see just how much they meant to the fans who were there as they painted Milano red and black.
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| We are the Champions |
After a season of adversity where this team held their heads high and rose to the occasion every time, all of the heart and grinta exploded in the form of three goals less than 20 minutes to ensure that Milan lifted our 19th Scudetto. The team that no one else believed in at the beginning of the season lifted the trophy. Dreams really do come true.
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| The dream is reality. |
It all comes down to this final match. 90 minutes of football in which anything can happen. Milan have been through everything this season, averaging 7.8 players out per match for over half the season, being on the wrong end of a number of egregious referee errors and suspensions, and more. Yet here they are, needing only a single point or even just our head-to-head record above Inter to lift their first Scudetto trophy in 11 years. Of course, they face Sassuolo, who have been a bit of a Kryptonite team for them, at least at the San Siro. But this match is away, at the Mapei Stadium, where Milan have won their last five matches against the Neroverdi. Could it possibly happen? The biggest question will be asked of the man of the middle, the answer at the final whistle.
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| Will he do his job correctly? Or will he have the final say in Milan's Scudetto hopes? |
No one outside of Milan fans expected Milan to win the Scudetto this season. All season long, they were discounted in the press. While other coaches were acknowledged for a decent couple of games, Pioli was consistently overlooked time and time again for the magic he was performing in spite of injuries, referee errors, and a very young and inexperienced squad. Now that the title race is down to Milan and Inter, some people are finally noticing Milan's mental strength. But still no one is giving them credit for what they have had for two and a half years now: consistency.
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| Milan and Inter's head to head record for the season (from La Gazzetta dello Sport via @patrickendrick) |
With so much at stake and so little room for mistakes, each match causes more tension for fans going until the final whistle. Yet with each win, there is so much more satisfaction. After a tense first half that was more like a chess match than football, the second half was filled with individual brilliance and pure joy.
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| What just happened? |
There will be a lot of noise in Milano on Sunday evening. The San Siro is sold out, there were actually a reported total of 200,000 requests for tickets, and reports that a million people from out of town will descend upon the city. The cheers, chants, and drums will all be covering a single unifying sound: the heartbeat of those who bleed red and black. In this final home match, the penultimate in the Scudetto race, and the second to last chance that the Italian Referee Association have to finish their job for Inter this season, Rossoneri hearts will be united hoping for another spectacular Milan performance against a slippery Atalanta side.
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| Holding our hearts in his hands |
Ahead of the Fiorentina match, in his press conference, Pioli said the team must have "Fire in our hearts and ice in our veins." This becomes even more true as they head into their final two matches of the season. Needing only four points from the two matches to secure Milan's first Scudetto in 11 years, they will need to play two perfect matches with the passion and intensity we have watched emerge from the trials of this season. With Inter waiting just two points behind with a season full of suspiciously favorable referee calls, Milan may also need a bit of luck.
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| Fire and ice personified. |
After a forced ritiro due to health and family reasons, the podcast is back with a vengeance. Literally, I am seeking some vengeance from an entire season of suspicious referee calls. But luckily, Boaz, of the Scudetto podcast, was more reasonable, and together we were able to celebrate recent wins and discuss the latest news and speculate on how this season will end.
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| Exceeding all expectations |
They call the curse "Fatal Verona," as Verona twice destroyed Milan's Scudetto plans at the Bentegodi, once in 1973 and again in 1990. But not in 2022. This team has too much grinta and too much heart, even when the referees refuse to give penalties, call off goals, or do anything and everything else in their power to stop Milan from winning. The Hellas Verona fans, outnumbered in ticket purchases in their own house, had threatened the Milan fans online this week, but that did not stop Milan fans from coming to support their team. It seemed that everyone in Verona tried to stop Milan, but at the final whistle, it was a Verona fatality.
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| Not today. |
Milan have a task at hand. They cannot afford to be distracted by recent or past history, they must only focus on the match at the Bentegodi. Which is a challenge for anyone, as it can be such a hostile stadium. But with 16,000 Milan fans rumored to be traveling to support them, perhaps they will be buoyed by the red and black passion. Pioli should also have the most players available that he has had all season, quite the opposite of the last time we met Verona. In this third from the final match, every detail will matter. But the most important factor will be Milan's mental strength.
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| A 6'5" source of our mental and physical strength |
As stressful as these last few games are, there is an overall positive feeling at the club and amongst the fans. Despite everything that has happened this season, Milan have overachieved, have exceeded all expectations, and are competing for something that no one expected them to be able to compete for at the beginning of the season. They have overcome all odds and achieved Champions League qualification and then some. Watching them celebrate each victory together, Milan are feelin' good.
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| Yes. |
Milan invited Pioli's former family to the San Siro (kind of) for yet another intense match in our final run for the Scudetto. Despite appearances from former Milan family members Saponara and Bonaventura, as well as Rebić playing against his former family, Milan were able to remain focused, capitalize on a goalkeeping error and hand Fiorentina their fourth straight loss to take all three points. While it seemed for the first 81 minutes that Milan might drop points again under pressure, Milan proved once again that their belief is strong enough to overcome any referee error or other challenge. They showed us yet again that they are a family.
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| Family |