Milan have three matches left this season. While second place seemed to be a certainty for the team last month, recent results have called into question whether or not the team will actually pull it off. Coming to the close of what has been a difficult and disappointing season for the team (not just the fans,) the Curva Sud are set to boycott their third match in a row. Once again this week, they've announced a "silent protest" in order to obtain "clarity" from the management on things the management is working on, but cannot actually do anything about until the season ends. So, Saturday night, Milan will host 15th place Cagliari. Meanwhile, the fans who claim to love the Club the most will stand in silence, while the players who have fought in every match will be battling alone, looking for some actual clarity as to our final position on the table.
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| Giroud perhaps trying to show the fans where they should actually be looking for clarity. |
Milan are not the only team in this match looking for clarity on where they finish this season. Claudio Ranieri, most famous for taking that Leicester City team on their Cinderella story finish at the top of the Premier League in 2016, is now hoping to keep his promotion side from relegation this season. Cagliari currently sit three points ahead of Udinese, who come into matchday 36 in 18th place on the table. Basically, Cagliari will be desperate for a result at San Siro, and every point will count for them in their battle against relegation.
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| Claudio "the Tinkerer" Ranieri with former Milan number 9, Lapadula. |
Their most recent match was a 1-1 draw with Lecce on Sunday. For that match, Ranieri lined up: Scuffet; Zappa, Mina, Dossena, Augello; Nández Makoumbou, Deiola; Gaetano, Lapadula, and Luvumbo. Gaetano will be suspended for this match after having been sent off vs. Lecce, and Augello will also be suspended for yellow card accumulation. Ranieri will also be missing Makoumboua and Jankto to injury. However, he will have Viola back for this match. In all, he has called up 24 players for this match.
Curiously, six of the teams in Serie A have chosen to honor Mother's Day by having the players wear their Mother's surnames on the backs of their jerseys. Both Milan and Cagliari will be doing this. While Milan's announcement declared that this was being done as a gesture of "gender equality," to show a recent law passed in Italy that women have the same right to choose the surname for their child. But this isn't gender equality. A woman's surname is still her father's surname. Familial surnames are helpful for recordkeeping such as governmental and genealogical records, a woman's identity lies in her first name.
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| The kits with the players' mothers' surnames for Saturday. |
As a woman and a mother, I know that women pass on their identity to their children through physical, emotional, and environmental factors. Whether she gives the child the surname of her father or the surname of her partner/husband is irrelevant. In a country that has some of the highest domestic violence and femicide rates in Europe, and where misogyny is rampant, worrying about whether or not a woman can give her child her surname seems like a very low priority over her very survival.
As for Milan, Pioli will definitely be facing his former manager without Maignan and Loftus-Cheek, who are still out with slight muscle injuries. It was reported that Okafor sustained a contusion in the Genoa match, but he has been able to train this week and should be called up. Jović has also returned to the squad after his injury. Pioli reported that Kalulu and Bennacer are both fit to play, but reports are that Leão, Theo, Tomori, and Calabria may not start or even play as a technical decision.
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| At least our team are united in their efforts. |
One thing is certain, the Curva Sud have stated that they will not be supporting the team. While Ibrahimović made a social media post entitled "vision and mission" which seemed aimed at the fans, they are still boycotting "with Milan always in their hearts." So, while they look for some clarity in their midlife crisis and their purpose in supporting the team at all, Milan will have to find a way to take all three points without at least four starters, and without the support of their home crowd against a team fighting for relegation. If anyone finds any clarity from the Curva Sud, please let me know.
This post inspired by the music of Bambie Thug's "Doomsday Blue"
Thanks to Ray Mundo Futcast for having me on the Podcast
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Our next match is
Serie A Week 36
Milan vs. Cagliari
Saturday, May 11, 2024 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)