Serie A news: AC Milan’s season leaves more questions than answers

AC Milan barely made it to the finish line on the last day of the Serie A season,losing their final match against Cagliari and missing out on ChampionsLeague qualification.

The campaign was meant to be Massimo Allegri’s comeback story, but it turned into a difficult slog for many reasons.

Here, Sports News Blitz writer and AC Milan fan Luca Salmasi takes a look at five key takeaways from the club’s latest poor season.

Unwanted history

AC Milan’s defeat to Cagliari on the final day of the season coupled with Juventus’ own failings means the two clubs have made unwanted history by both failing to qualify for the Champions League. 

This marks the first time in nearly 35 years that neither club will compete in Europe’s top competition and will instead participate in the Europa League.

Milan’s loss to Cagliari, in particular, was an apt culmination to a poor season as they led from the very start before losing to a team with nothing at stake.

Although they still qualify for a European competition, success is not guaranteed given that this is one of the worst-performing Milan sides since their Scudetto win under Stefano Pioli in the 2020/21 season.

Purging management

Milan’s ownership group, RedBird Capital, have since cleaned house, saying goodbye to the four key figures of manager Allegri, CEO Giorgio Furlani, technical director Geoffrey Mondeca, and sporting director Igli Tare.

The changes were announced immediately after the 2-1 defeat to Cagliari, with RedBird releasing a statement calling the late-season collapse an “unequivocal failure”.

As a result, RedBird have sought to retain special advisor Zlatan Ibrahimović, who is expected to spearhead the complete reorganisation of the club’s football operations.

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Distrust in ownership

AC Milan fans have widely distrusted the ownership of RedBird Capital under Gerry Cardinale since they took charge in 2022.

Supporters have consistently protested the lack of ambition and the prioritisation of profit over sporting success, ‘moneyball’ player trading, and controversial dismissals such as Paolo Maldini as well as player transfers, including Sandro Tonali to Newcastle United.

The main reason, however, is that the fans feel the owners are treating the seven-time European champions as an investment portfolio rather than one of Italy’s biggest footballing institutions.

In that, RedBird prefer a strategy that prioritises buying undervalued mid-level talent to sell for profit rather than a few select established stars to compete for major titles.

Notably, the dismissal of sporting director Maldini and Ricky Massara in 2023 deeply alienated the fanbase as Maldini was the bridge to a glorious past and offered a guarantee of sporting ambition in the eyes of supporters.

The biggest escalation of these disagreements has, unsurprisingly, come from the Curva Sud – Milan’s organised ultras, who have staged remarkable mass walkouts as well as total silence in the San Siro to boycott the current ownership.

Additionally, human tifos have been created – reading ‘go home’ and ‘sell up and step aside’ – and marches have been led to Casa Milan demanding new leadership.

Whilst the fans have partly gotten what they wished for in Furlani leaving the club, the belief remains that as long as Cardinale and RedBird are in charge, not much will change.

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Failed fairytale return

Allegri’s return to Milan was supposed to be a dream reunion and a steadying of the ship, with the 58-year-old having previously won the Scudetto and Supercoppa Italiana with the Rossoneri.

He returned for his second spell in charge after replacing Sérgio Conceição and for the first half of the season Milan looked to be serious contenders for the title, remaining comfortably in and around the top spots.

However, a decline in domestic form, managing just 25 points in the second half of the season, saw them drop to fifth place.

Leão wants new challenge

Rafael Leão joined AC Milan from Lille in 2019 and has gone on to make 291 appearances, scoring 80 goals and making 55 assists.

Leão has two years remaining on his contract at San Siro and despite his original decision to stay in Milan, he has recently made his affection for a move to the Premier League very clear.

The Portuguese managed only 13 goal involvements, starting just 25 games, last season and couldn’t help Milan to qualify for the Champions League.

There aren’t hard feelings between Leão and the club, and he may feel that it is simply time to find a new challenge, but one of the primary reasons for a departure is likely his ambition to be competing at the pinnacle of European club competition.

Ultimately, the failure to qualify for the Champions League looks to have been the final deciding factor for the winger to start looking elsewhere – with his sights now locked on the Premier League.

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