Coppa Italia Final • Milan vs. Bologna: One Cup to Rule Them All

Milan's season has been like a journey through Middle Earth, and we have found ourselves at the end of the season closer to midtable than where a club with this history belongs. We have battled Orcs, Trolls, and even a Balrog along our way. Perhaps our most amazing battle was defeating the Nazgûl in three of our five meetings, while drawing twice, including winning the Supercoppa at their expense and breaking the curse they held over us. But for a guaranteed place in European competition next season, we have one important battle left: the Coppa Italia Final on Wednesday. A win is the only acceptable outcome for our dignity, so the team have headed to Mount Doom to face Bologna for one cup to rule them all, and to Europe bind them.

The Fellowship of Milan are ready for the One Cup to rule them all...

Milan 3, Bologna 1: Mommas Boys

Friday was dedicated to the mothers... kinda, and our boys showed up for their mommas in a big way. After going down a goal courtesy of Orsolini, his 15th of the season in all competitions, Conceição once again made all the right subs and Milan scored three goals to secure all three points. Not only was this win crucial for confidence ahead of our Coppa Italia Final with Bologna on Wednesday in Rome, but results went our way this round, and the 3-1 win over Bologna pushed us up into eighth place in the league, too. The guys got to show their love for their mothers with a feel-good, important victory in a way that only a bunch of mommas boys can.

Just a bunch of mommas boys with their mommas.

Milan-Bologna Preview: Thanks, Mom... Kinda

Fans are preparing for a type of Coppa Italia preview match on Friday, facing Bologna in the league ahead of our Final with them in Rome on Wednesday. But the Club are trying to squeeze every last bit of commercialism (with a bit of sentiment) out of Mother's Day on Sunday. Last year, players wore the surnames of their Grandfathers on the backs of their shirts for Mother's Day (in most cultures, the mother's maiden name is her father's surname.) While they are adding some nice initiatives, they are also obviously adding some merch sales and incentives to get more moms to the stadium. So a match that should be about wrapping up our season in the best possible way is still about the club's marketing, who are promoting a message of "Thanks, Mom... kinda."

Well-intentioned (I think,) but kinda poorly thought out.

Genoa 1, Milan 2: The Mentorship Program

There is a team in Serie A this season who has excelled at defeating themselves above all else. The team with the third highest wagebill, but stands in the ninth place on the table. I speak, of course of Milan. If there is a way to concede a goal when they are otherwise playing well, they will find it. If the entire team is focused, but just one error could change everything, one individual will step up... always. However, with Conceição, that has been slowly changing – Milan will choke first, but then come back and draw or win. In fact, Milan have earned 19 points now coming back from a losing situation, the most in Serie A, according to OptaPaolo. But Genoa are still learning the first part, and lost 1-2  to Milan, largely due to taking part in the self-defeating mentorship program.

Celebrating Genoa's generosity.

Genoa-Milan Preview: Monday Night at the Marassi

The recent flip at the top of Serie A as well as the drama of five teams competing four fourth place has seen Milan become increasingly obsolete in the conversation about the league. In fact, despite having finally found some consistency, that they are ninth place and not really in that conversation are the main talking points surrounding the team anymore. Genoa, too, have slipped into that midtable mediocrity where no one really cares about them anymore. So, with all the other teams playing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, this match is more of an afterthought to the weekend, like those leftovers in the refrigerator that no one cares about. Just a Monday night at the Marassi.

Milan need to continue their recent consistne form.

Venezia 0, Milan 2: An Afternoon in Venice

Venezia has the only stadium in Serie A that is only accessible via water taxi (boat.) Which gives them a unique home advantage, for the players from opposition teams who get motion sickness or are not used to traveling by boat. But it also gives players the coolest arrival look. And perhaps looking cool helped with Milan's confidence, because Venezia, despite their position on the table, have caused some problems for the biggest of teams this season. So, despite the fact that Milan pulled off a 2-0 win away, this match was not just a relaxing afternoon in Venice.

We are all Gabbia right now.

Podcast • Milan's Reality Show

This season has been filled with so much drama, it feels like a reality show. Huge wins, painful losses, changes in players and managers, and now there is a search for Milan's Next Top Sporting Director. To sort all this out, I invited Paul, the President of  Milan Club Adelaide, to tell us what it is like to be a Milan fan in Australia, and what it was like to have the club come to Australia last summer, including that amazing coreo, (spoiler alert: we find out who the awesome Zia was who was sewing the coreo and also the brains behind it!!) We also spent plenty of time discussing everything happening at the club right now, including the first team, Conceição, Milan Futuro, Milan Primavera, and the management.

Fans in Adelaide know what it is to be Milan fans.

Inter 0, Milan 3: To the Victor Go the Spoils

In 90 minutes, we destroyed their naïve, arrogant treble dreams. We dominated and shut them out, keeping a clean sheet and also forcing Inter to accept a season where they were winless against us. Five times. After pillaging their Supercoppa in January, we plundered all hopes of The Other Inzaghi™ and his FC Bankrupt side reaching another Coppa Italia final, let alone winning another trophy. While Schadenfreude is delicious, though, Milan are through to the final. We have qualified for the Supercoppa next year, which earned us €11 million this year for winning. We still have the chance at Europa League next year if we win the Coppa Italia, which would also be our second trophy of the season (and Inter have yet to win any.) Plus, Milano is red. Like for the whole season it's been red. Winning 3-0 over our city rivals, 4-1 on aggregate in the Semifinals of the Coppa Italia definitely has its rewards. To the victor go the spoils.

The Finalists.

Coppa Italia Semifinal • Inter vs. AC Milan Preview: DNA Test

This management have worked tirelessly to remove Milan's DNA and leave their own mark on the club. From removing Paolo Maldini to dismantling the Scudetto-winning team, their "mark" on the club has become associated to the marks in one's underwear when they learn we are facing FC Bankrupt for the fifth time again this season. After a brave 1-1 draw in the first leg, this match is a win or go home scenario. The reward is a ticket to the final, where Milan would have a chance to play not only for a second trophy, but also direct entrance to the Europa League. Having largely closed all doors to European competition through league play, this match is a must-win in order to have a chance at that. So it is really a test to see if there is still any Milan left at Milan... a Milan DNA test.

Have Milan got what it takes to knock out the joint-league leaders?

Milan 0, Atalanta 1: La Dea Rises

As Diavoli, perhaps Milanisti should have read the signs better. Atalanta are "La Dea," which is "The Goddess" in Italian, and we were playing on Easter. Their story had too many parallels to the Easter story. They had lost three matches, then come back from the dead. And now they defeated Milan 1-0 at the San Siro to ensure everyone knew who they were and that their Champions League qualification bid was resurrected once again. After Milan broke their 17 year curse last week in Udine, having won both matches vs. Udinese in the same season, now Atalanta have won both matches in a season against Milan for only the third time in their history. The signs were all there, we should have known that on Easter Sunday, La Dea rises.

I Diavoli were stuck in hell while La Dea resurrected their Champions League plans

Milan-Atalanta Preview: Buona Pasqua

Serie A typically does not schedule matches on Easter Sunday. Although the Pope is a football fan, he frowns upon it. But this year, all hell is breaking loose anyway, so here we are, Milan is hosting Atalanta on Easter Sunday. And it's perfect, since the Easter holiday is a symbol of renewal, that Milan are trying to jumpstart their redemption arc for the rest of the season. Some genius figured out that it is still mathematically possible for Milan to finish anywhere between second and 14th. (Maybe they were celebrating 4/20 early?) Obviously, it would be an Easter miracle for Milan to even finish top four, but it would be great to at least get a better result than we did vs. Atalanta in their house in December. So let's hope for at least that Easter miracle. Buona Pasqua.

Let's hope Milan comes "con sorpresa" in the shape of another victory.

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.

Udinese-Milan Preview: When Racism Goes Unpunished

A year ago January, Udinese found themselves in the worldwide news for all the wrong reasons. Some of their fans had been racially abusing Maignan during the Udinese-Milan match, and for once, the referee, Maresca, followed the protocol. And when stopping the match was not enough, Maignan walked off the pitch and his team followed. Claiming that Friulians are not racists, Udinese made a spectacle of identifying five people who had apparently been responsible using video and facial recognition evidence, banned them for life, and made sure they were also prosecuted legally as well. Only to turn around to the FIGC and appeal the one match ban. Which, of course, since it's Italy, the FIGC gladly complied and the club went unpunished. But hate left unpunished grows, and their Curva Nord, who last year callously claimed that Maignan was the only one who heard the racist chants, have put up a banner in Udine that reads "Maignan uomo di me*da" ("Maignan man of sh*t.") At the same time, they posted on Facebook (the social media haven for racism) "Friuli, Udine, and the Curva Nord are not racist," urging dissent toward Maignan "within the canons of correctness" and also included "the Friulian people do not forget." So they are being racist without saying racist things, because their racist friends got in trouble. That is what happens when racism goes unpunished.

Maignan did not deserve any of this hate, least of all one year later.

Milan 2, Fiorentina 2: Aspiring for Mediocrity

When I titled my preview for this match, "Finding Equilibrium," I did not mean to suggest the teams should play to a draw. I truly was hoping that Milan would find some balance in this insanely imbalanced season and step into their own for the last part of the season. But instead, they stepped aside for Fiorentina, and while they fought back from 2-0 down, in the end they could only pull off the 2-2 draw. And unlike a lot of people, I am not blaming the manager and players as much as I am calling out management. In every single thing they have done since taking over the club, all they have done is claim they wanted success, but all of their actions have left the club aspiring for mediocrity.

The players have embraced each other, but no one is safe from the mediocrity of management.

Milan-Fiorentina Preview: Finding Equilibrium

Have you ever had an injury or illness that affected your equilibrium? It's a strange sensation, and one that would feel very familiar to Milan fans who have watched this season. One minute, the team seem fine, great even, capable of doing anything. And the next minute, they are either wobbling or actually on the ground, without even understanding what happened. Conceição, who is used to consistently winning, has struggled to understand both the atmosphere from the Milan fans this season and also something he has made a few references to as "bad luck." Yes, Sérgio, one club from Milano gets all the calls, and one does not. Beyond that, with management being about as stable as America's current president, the environment at the club has been volatile this season, making it even more difficult for players to strike a balance in their individual and collective performances. However, it is time to try to end the season well, so let's hope they can start with this match by finding some equilibrium.

The team are in a difficult environment, but need to find their way.

AC Milan 1, Inter 1: Act I

The curtains have closed on the first act of the Coppa Italia Semifinal's Derby della Madonnina, and we have a two week intermission until the second act. The first act saw Milan and Inter draw 1-1, with all the drama left for the second match. While Milan fielded most of their starters, there were a lot of understudies for Inter, who have some big players injured. So the suspense is tangible, almost as if this match had not even been played. For Milan, everything is on the line, while Inter are looking to win their first trophy of the year after Milan stole their thunder (and their silverware) in January. So enjoy the intermission, because the drama is going to get very real next time. This was just Act I.

Only the first Act, with everything to play for in Act II.

Coppa Italia Semifinal • AC Milan-Inter Preview: Desperation Derby

Milan have their proverbial backs up against the wall this season. After going out of the Champions League at the Group Stage, there are only eight matches left to fight for a European spot of any kind for next season. Sitting solidly in ninth place at this point, that is now just a fool's hope. We are in the Coppa Italia Semifinals, which for some inexplicable reason are a two-leg round, while every other round is only one leg, including the final. Still, in 2025, when players and everyone else are concerned about the number of matches, we're doing this. Worse still, of course, we've drawn our cheating, slimy, scum-sucking cugini, Inter. But winning this round and then progressing to the final gives us a chance at another trophy and guaranteed access to the Europa League next season, too. So despite playing a hated rival, for Milan, this is a desperation Derby.

Milan are desperate for access to Europe next season.

Napoli 2, Milan 1: Sick of It All

Waking up to the news that Loftus-Cheek was having emergency surgery when he was meant to have his first start since December was distressing enough. But seeing the starting lineups made me feel ill. Then we had to suffer through yet another match where we conceded goals and had to try to fight back, which was even more nauseating. We've seen this so many times before. But it ended Napoli 2, Milan 1, we dropped three more points, distancing ourselves further from Europe instead of trying to change our fate. And afterward, we found out that Conceição had to change three of his planned starting 11 at the last minute due to health issues. Every time there is the slightest glimmer of hope to cling to this season, everything that can go wrong does. I'm just sick of it all.

Bad luck feels bad for our season.

Napoli-Milan Preview: A Date With Destiny

With nine matches left, people have left Milan for dead. The table shows that we are in ninth place, but upon closer observation, we are only two points from seventh, four points from sixth, and six points from fourth place. Sure, that dream hinges on other teams dropping points. It also requires a near perfect finish to our season, which starts Sunday, with a trip to Napoli. The same team we unnecessarily dropped three points to in October because of injuries, suspensions, and a manager's fetish for benching our best player. And this Napoli is struggling to maintain form and fight for the Scudetto, despite not having played in Europe. As always, it will be an epic battle at the Maradona, and our team is unlikely to get any support at all from fans. But it is the first match of the rest of our season – a date with destiny.

Will they take control of their own fate?

Sérgio Conceição: Tenacious Warrior

Winning requires incredible discipline and mentality. The ability to inspire others to win requires even more, it requires leadership, charisma, character, empathy, and confidence and belief that are unshakable when everything is stacked against you. It also requires an incredible work ethic and attention to detail. As someone whose origins meant the odds were stacked against him, Sérgio Conceição somehow developed all of these qualities and then some. He won as a player, he has an unbelievable winning record as a manager, and off the pitch, he is devoted to his family and his religion and the people he loves in this life. He played football at the highest level, now manages football at the highest level, and works tirelessly to be successful in both his professional life and his personal life. He is a tenacious warrior.

He will fight to the end for Milan, and the players are responding.

Milan 2, Como 1: The Comeback Kings

Milan have been called a lot of things this season, but since Conceição arrived, names with the word "comeback" in them are starting to stick. After winning 3-2 last week having been down 2-0 against Lecce, this week, it was Como's turn. Milan turned this one around to win 2-1. Again. Conceição has already won 10 matches in all competitions since he arrived at Milan, and of those 10 wins, six were comeback wins. Hopefully, after the international break, they'll learn how to win games from the first minute. But until then, they are being touted as Serie A's comeback kings.

Bringing Milan back into the match over and over again.

Milan-Como Preview: Cutrone's Homecoming

For those who have followed Milan for more than six or eight years, you may remember a promising young player from our youth system called Patrick Cutrone. After promoting to the first team, he made 90 appearances and scored 27 goals for Milan. In 2019, he was sold to Wolverhampton because he was not in the plans of one Marco Giampaolo. But he was one of those Milan nel cuore players that just hurt to see go, and it was clearly hard for him, too. His career also suffered, and after relatively unsuccessful loan spells in Serie A, in 2022, he came home... to Como, his hometown. On Saturday evening, he will return to the San Siro as their captain, with probably only one familiar face, Matteo Gabbia, in the Milan squad. Milan are just one point from eighth and two points from seventh, so need every single point they can get. Even if that means they have to spoil Cutrone's homecoming.

Cutrone is more than welcome to come home, but Milan may spoil his homecoming.

Who Is Actually Running Milan?

Ever since Gerry Cardinale purchased AC Milan, the entire club's management has been in a constant state of change, with questions recurring as to what his goals even are as an owner. First, Gazidis left and Furlani was appointed CEO, then he infamously had Maldini fired. After a bunch of gaslighting and nonsense about "working groups" and not having people in specific positions as before, they restored an identical management hierarchy. When that was clearly unsuccessful, they asked Ibrahimović to join RedBird as an Operating Partner and Senior Advisor to Milan, a position with duties and powers that have never been clarified. It has never been clear who is making the sporting decisions in this inexperienced group of egotistical directors. Now, with additional changes to the sporting sector on the horizon, more than ever, everyone is questioning, "Who is actually running Milan?"

One or more of these men is supposedly running Milan, but who?

Lecce 2, Milan 3: Not the Journey, But the Destination

People talk about how "It's not the journey, but the destination." And I can only assume that Milan took that as a personal challenge at the Via del Mare on Saturday. Because the journey was like having your heart ripped out of your chest, stomped on, run through a meat grinder, then forcefully reformed, shoved back into your chest cavity, and finally haphazardly reattached at full time. (Obviously, I watched the whole thing, how could I not?) After going down 2-nil to the 16th place team, an own goal, a penalty, and finally a goal from the run of play dragged us back to get the 3-2 win over Lecce. Kind of like everything going on at the club right now, it was painful as hell, but eventually we got the three points. After three brutal consecutive losses, finally, at least it was not the journey, but the destination.

It took until he 81st minute, but we got there.

Lecce-Milan Preview: Things Can Get Worse

Some nightmares never cease to haunt you, and that is how I feel about Lecce's manager, Marco Giampaolo. He created the model for what this management should have done after they hired the wrong manager last summer, which is obviously to sack him in early October and hire a much better manager to right the ship. Ironically, this season, he was hired by Lecce in November to be that better manager for them after Luca Gotti was not working out. For Milan, where pundits have crucified Conceição after a  whirlwind 17 matches in just two months, Giampaolo is a reminder that things can get worse.

The man has seen an entire season in just two months.

Podcast • Crisis Intervention Training

This is a really tough time to be a Milan fan. With the effects of poor management decisions growing exponentially, and the fans getting angrier and angrier, it is difficult to remain calm when results are poor. Like crashing out of the Champions League. Or losing our game in hand, effectively ending our chances for Champions League qualification for next year. Or losing to Lazio at home after going down to ten men. Thankfully, my fellow Milanista Søren was willing to join me to help process some of the things happening at the club and provide some crisis intervention training for our fellow Milan fans.

Milan is in full crisis mode.

Milan 1, Lazio 2: Blackout

Watching dreams die is so painful. Watching them die in those horrific "Welcome to Dreamland" kits is so very much worse. But when it's your team, your dreams, it hurts on a level that people who are not supporters do not understand. When there are other things contributing to the loss of all you dreamed of, such as past managers, referees, poor management, or even other fans directly impacting results, it can feel like the whole world is against you and your beloved Milan. And it can get worse, too, because both the Primavera and Milan Futuro teams lost on the same day as Milan's stoppage time 1-2 loss to Lazio as we were on ten men. Sunday was a total blackout.

The players are the first to hurt by results like this.

Milan-Lazio Preview: Defiance

Sunday night's clash at the San Siro is significant in multiple ways. First, obviously, Milan are desperate for points, and taking them from a team above them is even more important. Second, to defy all the talk from the unhinged Italian media so the team can have a peaceful week to train for once. But also, if you'll recall, our match away to Lazio was the first time He Who Shall Not Be Named benched Theo and Leão. Then, after scoring the goal to salvage the point, in an act that was seen as defiant, they did not join the team for a one minute water break, aka Waterbreakgate.™It still freaks me out how fans and the toxic Italian media will still talk about that one minute of hydration, but no one talks about the two points dropped because of the arrogant manager, who is no longer at the club. This match is a chance for the team to set the record straight by exceeding expectations, another type of defiance.

The best act of defiance is to show your best self.

Bologna 2, Milan 1: Where Hope Goes to Die

When Milan's management finally changed managers, I had hoped that it would not be too late to turn the season around. But then they also further destabilized the squad when they changed five players in and out. And while we got some quality players in the deal, they publicly expelled our captain in the worst of ways, which is just bad Karma. Now that Milan have finally played their game in hand and lost 2-1 to Bologna, the chances of us qualifying for the Champions League next year have dropped significantly. Since January, we went from Supercoppa winners and top four hopefuls to a place where hope goes to die.

The "Futile Four." Not just killing the hopes and dreams of Milanisti, actually killing football.

Bologna-Milan Preview: The One That Got Away

Thursday's match vs. Bologna was originally scheduled for the weekend of October 27th. However, there was heavy flooding in Bologna that week, and despite many different efforts to play the match without fans, in a neutral venue, etc., a political move by Bologna's mayor saw it postponed after all. And personally, I know that people lost lives as well as property in those floods, so I was okay with postponing the match, even if other events went ahead in Bologna that same day we were scheduled to play. Although it did affect suspensions that impacted our match with Napoli instead, which we lost. However, now our captain was pushed out and is playing for the enemy, which makes this one even more intriguing. All the way around, this will be the one that got away.

I wish him well... just not on this occasion.

Torino 2, Milan 1: Dysregulated Football

Much is being said about Milan's inconsistencies and big, costly errors lately. While I have my own theories as to the root causes, which are echoed by many,  the team itself is playing a form of dysregulated football. Most of the time, dysregulation is used to describe emotions, such as when someone is unable to control their emotions, or their emotions do not correspond with what is going on around them. Fans and media look at the team sheets and expect miracles, but they fail to see the big picture and try to understand what is happening behind the scenes at the club. Then the media write all kinds of toxic, malicious stories that make the situation worse, which inhibits the work being done trying to regulate the team and get them playing consistently against all odds. So, instead, Milan are playing a form of dysregulated football.

How can they explain what they don't understand about the effects of what is being done to them?

Torino-Milan Preview: Regroup

Milan's schedule just lightened up a little bit, there will be far fewer weeks of playing every three days now that they have exited the Champions League for the season. Last season, we dropped down into the Europa League Playoffs after our early Champions League exit, but with the changes in format this season, we just become more like Napoli... playing once a week. With all the chaos this management continues to throw at this team, slowing the calendar down should help with both fewer injuries and better results. It will also be the first time Conceição will have more than a day or two consecutively to properly train with the squad. So, while this match comes only four days after our fateful match with Feyenoord, hopefully it is our first step to regroup.

The team need to regroup and refocus on Serie A.

AC Milan 1, Feyenoord 1: Too Little, Too Late

AC Milan have completed their Champions League performances for this season. After an unlucky 1-0 loss in Rotterdam last week, not even an early goal could rescue Milan's fate. A 1-1 draw with Feyenoord at the San Siro saw the Dutch club progress to the knockout rounds with a 2-1 aggregate score from both legs. And Milan were sent crashing out before the Round of 16 for the second year in a row. This should not surprise, as this management have taken the Milan DNA out of this team. But every time it seems that maybe they are learning from their mistakes, it becomes painfully clear that it is too little, too late.

One goal was just not enough.

Champions League Playoffs • AC Milan vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam: All on the Line

After a disappointing 1-0 loss in the rain in Rotterdam last week, Milan have 90 minutes to turn it around and go through to the Champions League Round of 16. One massive advantage is that the team will finally have their fans behind them, with at least 60,000 fans expected at the San Siro. Both teams just played on Saturday, with Milan winning 1-0 over Verona and Feyenoord playing to a goalless draw. But this match is literally worth another €11 million for the team that moves on, while the other team is out of the Champions League for the season. So it is quite literally all on the line.

It's not the team in the spotlight, it's the fans this time.

Milan 1, Verona 0: That Perfect Moment

In an unnecessarily tedious match that was filled with yellow cards (and yet somehow still not nearly enough yellow cards,) it only took one goal to decide it all. A beautiful moment in what seemed like an ugly battle between a team desperate for points and a team desperate to get out of those hideous fourth kits. Gimenez was the hero in Milan's 1-0 win over Verona, but the goal was beautiful from start to finish, and worth sitting through the other 90 laborious minutes. It was that perfect moment.

When you've created the perfect moment.