Udinese 0, Milan 4: The Fourth Dimension

This season, Milan have been living in an alternate reality. Perhaps you could call it the Gattuso Reality™ ("Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe sh*t.") But after all the drama with Fonseca, perhaps fans had given up hope that Conceição had the ability to take this team to another level. However, he had not been given any time to work, with a constant onslaught of matches every three days since January... until recently. But on Friday, there was a visible tactical breakthrough. And while it included a frightening head injury, it also resulted in four unanswered goals, a rare clean sheet, and serving the hateful Udinese fans their fourth defeat in a row. That's right, the final score was Udinese 0, Milan 4. It was as if Milan had entered the fourth dimension.

Pavlović and Tomori giving us the right vibes for this match.

Milan immediately went on the offensive from the first whistle, as Reijnders forced Okoye into a save less than one minute into the match, and Theo followed that up with a cross that went wide. Then Udinese and their fans did their best to disrupted whatever positive thing Milan had going on, including whistling Maignan very loudly every single time he touched the ball. Clearly, this is why the FIGC placed an authority between the fans and Maignan for this match, because these were the "not-racists" who last year claimed there was no evidence of racism.

The focus was on Maignan for all the wrong reasons... again.

What I still don't understand about that is they were reportedly upset with Maignan because he raised the awareness of the racial abuse from their fans last year. And they got big mad about being accused of being racists. They claimed they wanted to clear their good name, so obviously, the best way to do that is to appeal your stadium ban and get away without being punished, then the following year put up a sign calling the man your fans abused a piece of sh*t, and then whistle relentlessly every time he touched the ball. All of this more than one year later. 

If that doesn't convince people they are good, God-fearing people who are loving and welcoming of all people, well then I don't really know what will. (Seriously?) Their Curva Nord started by calling Mike a liar, then the club permabanned the four or five people caught on camera and pursued criminal charges. But now, all their fans seem quite racist. And hateful and unapologetic, and really projecting themselves with that banner.

This is not how you write a redemption story, especially when you sign it.

Even their players got in on the action, with not one, but two players interfering with Maignan as he had the ball in his hands in the 24th minute, with Lovrić actually shoving him to the ground. But hey, we don't need cards for that kind of behavior, right referee Juan Lucca Sacchi? At least they stopped after that. And Maignan had a save on Ehizibue, then Gabbia followed that up by blocking the rebound. 

Lucca wanted a penalty called because Pavlović grabbed the shirt of the 6'7" (201 cm) striker. And we were probably lucky that Sacchi was not in the mood to call things, because that maybe could have been a penalty for Udinese. But then again, Álex Jiménez was pulled down in the box less than ten minutes later, and there was no penalty given for that, either.

Leão, unlocked.

Finally, though, Conceição's magical new 3-4-3 system paid off in the 42nd minute when Fofana crossed the ball in to Leão, who sent it straight down the middle just screaming past Okoye. 1-0 Milan. And while Milan had been playing a more clearly defined system, they had been struggling to maintain possession and create enough chances. Until this point. Leão's goal was like popping a bubble. 

So a few minutes later, there was a great team play passing the ball all the way down the field that unfortunately ended in a wasted opportunity. But from that play, we were awarded a corner kick, and Pulisic sent it in, and Pavlović headed it in for a monstrous second goal. Now it was Udinese 0, Milan 2 going into halftime.

The only thing better than a Pavlović goal is a Pavlović celebration.

After halftime, things took a turn for the absolute worst. Maignan, still being constantly whistled by the "not racist" Udinese fans (I don't even know if they were watching the rest of the match,) ran out for a ball, and Álex Jiménez ran straight toward him for the same ball, and they collided. Both were on the ground, but Mike was not moving. Credit to Udinese's Hassane Kamara, who was also going for that ball, and immediately checked on Mike as everyone else arrived to help him. 

When they turned Maignan into what is called the "safety position," we knew it was serious. This is used for players who have lost consciousness or who are having seizures, and he was not visibly seizing. But, having learned from our former Viking leader, Kjaer, our players formed a shield around him while the medical staff worked with him and got him on a stretcher. He could be seen grabbing his head as they were stretchering him off, which showed he had regained consciousness, so that was at least encouraging.

The last moment before the tragic collision.

Messages came through later that he was alert, but was going to the hospital, where he was evaluated and spent the night for observation. He came home the following day with all teasts clear, and posted on social media the following day that he was fine, that "the advantage of being stubborn is that you have a hard head," so clearly he was in good spirits, too. But it was a very frightening moment, made worse by all the whistling and the horrible sign their fans had put up against him the night before. 

Sportiello replaced Maignan in the 55th minute, and here is where you learn a lot about people. Many of the Udinese fans applauded when Maignan was stretchered off, as people often do in these situations. So they were actually human and behaved appropriately. But some still whistled, and also whistled Sportiello for the first few minutes, every time he touched the ball, demonstrating that they were not only not paying attention to the match, they were not even paying attention to their hate. Once someone told them it was not Maignan, or even a Black player in goal, the whistling stopped completely. But no, that wasn't racist at all. This is normal.

Very worrying scened, but him holding his head was actually a sign that he was conscious.

But also, the Italian media. There are a number of media outlets that are owned and/or run by Inter fans or even former Inter board members or club employees. This report seems to have come from one of those sources. Despite the horror of having a player stretchered off after being knocked unconscious, they decided to run with the story that Milan had broken a rule in that Maignan left the pitch with the captain's armband, and played the rest of the second half without a designated captain on the pitch. When your hatred for a rival club becomes so petty that you attempt to get them fined by pointing something like this out in your paper, you definitely have lost all humanity are an Inter fan.

In the 66th minute, there was a messy set of opportunities for Udinese in the box, in which Lucca eventually slipped and the ball was finally cleared. Then, Jiménez, who was also involved in the clash of heads, did not look well, and first sat, then laid down, eventually being helped off the pitch by the medical staff and straight into the dressing room. He had initially been cleared by both the medical staff and Conceição to return after the initial collision, but 20 minutes later, clearly could not continue. So in the 72nd minute, Sottil and Tammy Abraham replaced Jiménez and Jović.

If you see Theo doing this, it's already too late for you.

Tammy Abraham had an immediate impact, making a great pass to Theo out wide as Tammy himself was being fouled by Bijol (for which he received the first yellow card of the match for.) And then Theo did what Theo does best: turned on the turbo and launched a rocket into the back or the net to make it 3-0 for Milan. His first goal after his daughter was born last week, I really hope that now that mom and baby are safe and healthy, some of the stress he has been under this season has been lifted, because I love watching an unburdened Turbo Theo, and I am so sick of seeing him trashed by other fans and the media. (Despite his five goals and six assists in all competitions, breaking Maldini's record, etc.)

Shortly thereafter, Leão unselfishly set Reijnders up for a goal he could not miss, all he had to do was tap it in to make it 4-0. But for Reijnders, it was his 10th Serie A goal of the season, and he became the second Dutch player ever to score at least 10 goals in a single Serie A season since Marco van Basten. And that made a goal and an assist for Leão, who was obviously voted the MVP of the match.  Plus, it was Milan's fourth goal. In just one match. When was the last time that happened?

This is what it looks like when you've scored your 10th Serie A goal of the season.

Immediately thereafter, Conceição replaced  Theo Hernandez with Bartesaghi and Rafa Leão with Terrracciano to give those players a few minutes. During that time, Sportiello tipped a dangerous shot from Modesto over, and Bartesaghi had his shot saved by Okoye at the other end. Terracciano made his mark with a customary yellow card for a bad tackle on Payero. Atta took one last shot that Sportiello saved, then it was over. Milan had not only scored four goals, they kept a clean sheet, too.

In his postmatch press conference, Conceição was asked about the treatment of Maignan by the fans, and in classic form, he commended the Udinese fans who applauded when he was stretchered off, but noted the contrast between the whistles and the applause, delineating that the whistles were against the player, and the applause was for the man. That might be the most diplomatic way of addressing racism I've ever seen, calming the narrative between the two clubs' fanbases without condoning any wrong behaviors.

Breaking a curse emphatically, with a clean sheet, too... it feels good.

But Conceição also talked about why the team looked so much improved, it was because he had finally had a little bit of time to work with them. People have disrespectfully and harshly written him off, disparaging him, but he had only had three full weeks of training with the whole squad at this point. Imagine what he could do with some actual time.

Hopefully, with more time, we will see more of this. We need to make sure Mike and Jiménez are both safe and healthy, and getting other players back from injury will be nice, as well. But in this match, Milan won and racism lost. Again. In fact, Milan had not defeated Udinese both home and away in the same season for 17 years, so this match also broke a curse. Not only did Milan level up in terms of play, but they gave Udinese their fourth consecutive loss, effectively sending them into their own personal fourth dimension.

Three in a Row for Milan Futuro as They Take Down Ternana

Nava's penalty save was nothing short of heroic.

Whether it is the long overdue absence of Bonera, the desperate addition of Tassotti, or the final takeover by Oddo, what seemed impossible just weeks ago has happened: Milan Futuro won their third consecutive match. Not only did they win, they defeated Ternana 1-0, which is Abate's former club, and also second place in Group B. In contrast, Abate's Ternana had defeated Milan Futuro 3-0 earlier in the season. Ironically for Ternana, this defeat for them confirmed Virtus Entella's victory and promotion to Serie B, something Ternana had been fighting for all season.

Quirini leaving destruction in the wake of his winning goal.

This full match was available on FIFA+ for free in most countries, so more people got to see the improvement the team has been making since Bonera's exit. It was Quirini's diving header (assisted by Camarda) at the very end of the first half that won the match. But goalkeeper Lapo Nava also saved a penalty on Cicerelli in the 79th minute. This is notable because not only is Cicerelli the top scorer in Group B, he has never missed a penalty all season. Nava had at least five saves in this match, he was crucial to the win, especially since conceding late has cost Futuro so many points this season. Highlights can also be seen on the Serie C YouTube channel.

This win felt like this.

With other results, Milan Futuro remained in the 17th spot on the table, three points below the financially troubled Lucchese, and six below 15th place Ascoli. With just two matches left, this means that Futuro are most likely headed for the playouts on May 10th and 17th to avoid relegation. The only good news here is that Oddo's side are finally hitting their stride, and will be facing a team lower in the standings, so do have some chance at salvation. Milan Futuro are away to 11th place Gubbio on Monday the 21st at 15:00.

The Primavera Draw 1-1 With Monza Primavera

Perrucci's penalty brought hope to a beleaguered side.

After the heartbreaking loss in the Coppa Italia Primavera Final, Guidi had wanted his guys to bounce back in the league. However, he had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Monza last Monday instead. Monza Primavera struck early, scoring in just the eighth minute. However, when Milan earned a penalty a few minutes later, Perrucci was composed enough to score and bring his team level. Unfortunately, despite creating a number of chances, they were unable to score again. Scotti even hit the post in the 93rd minute, heartbreakingly close to winning the match. Brief highlights are available. The Primavera also had to prepare for their next match just four days later, and Guidi had also been sent off in this one, so would miss that next match, too.

Empoli Hand Milan Primavera Their Third Loss in Four Matches

Guidi observes from his perch in suspension land (the stands.)

Milan Primavera have had a tough run of form, with two losses in the league, then the loss to Cagliari in the Coppa Italia Primavera Final, and the draw with Monza on Monday their best result of the three matches. Having slipped to seventh place, Guidi's Primavera were playing without him, as he was suspended, but he wanted them to bring three points back from 18th place Empoli on Friday. Instead, though, they came home empty-handed once again as Empoli Primavera won 1-0. 

The goal for Empoli Primavera came near the end of the first half, from a corner, and the ball took a lucky bounce off the post, allowing Empoli the easy header from the rebound. Milan Primavera worked hard, but were simply not able to connect or finish their chances, so dropped points once again. Brief highlights of the match are available. After playing four matches in 13 days, the guys will have eight days until they face Lazio, who are currently a point behind them on the table (but still have their match to play this round.) Milan Primavera are fighting hard for a top six spot in order to access the playoffs. They have four matches left to climb the table.

This post inspired by the music of EON's "Spice (With Notes)"

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Our next matches are:

Serie A Week 33

Milan vs. Atalanta

Sunday, April 20, 2025 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EDT)

In the U.S., this match can be streamed on Paramount+,

or use a VPN to access better coverage

Serie C Week 37

Gubbio vs. Milan Futuro

Monday, April 21, 2025 • 15:00 CET (9:00am EDT)

This match is not being televised in the U.S.

Campionato Primavera 1 Week 35

Lazio Primavera vs. Milan Primavera

Monday, April 28, 2025 • 16:00 CET (10:00am EDT)

This match is not being televised in the U.S.