Italian sports papers analyse Milan‘s situation ahead of Saturday’s derby and some suggest Stefano Pioli’s side could risk missing out on a Champions League spot if they lose against Inter.
On paper, the Rossoneri are still in the race to win the Scudetto this term. They sit four points behind leaders Inter, although the Nerazzurri have a game in hand.
A victory in Saturday’s derby would boost Milan’s title hopes, but a loss may see them fight for a Champions League spot for the remainder of the season.
Juventus sit in fifth, but the Bianconeri massively reinforced their team in January by signing the likes of Denis Zakaria and Serie A’s Capocannoniere Dusan Vlahovic.
Inter and Atalanta have also reinforced their teams. La Dea sold Robin Gosens to Inter, but bought Valentin Mihaila from Parma and Jeremie Boga from Sassuolo.
Milan, on the other hand, had a quiet transfer window. Their most significant activities were to end Pietro Pellegri’s loan and sign 18-year-old striker Marko Lazetic.
Both Il Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport newspaper claim Milan could miss out on a top-four finish if they lose against Inter on Saturday.
“Inzaghi’s team has been reinforced, while Pioli may need to look over his shoulders,” wrote Il Corriere dello Sport adding that Milan “risk missing out on the Scudetto and the Champions League.”
Tuttosport offers a similar view, writing that “The Diavolo risks” and that the Rossoneri “now seem too weak.”
La Gazzetta dello Sport, on the other hand, gives an optimistic view highlighting that Stefano Pioli has only lost one game out of ten after international breaks.
It remains to be seen if it will be enough to beat Inter on Saturday and boost Milan’s title hopes.
Shocker! Juventus-backing Tuttosport and butthurt Corriere dello Sport (Roma losses and Dollarumma situation) talking nonsense about Milan.
Of course, in theory Milan could win the Scudetto or finish out of the top four like any of the other teams. Anything is possible, but if Milan remain injury-free (big if, I know) top four finish will be achieved.
Milan only really needed an attacking midfielder anyway.
They dont need UCL cause they will not finish beyond group stage like this season. They are over achieving past two season
Milan will probably battle with Atalanta for 4th place.
Top 3 will be inter, Napoli and tube, though not necessarily in that order.
@Milan Fan
Not “will” be achieved – it might be achieved. Regardless of injuries etc.
Point is, their hopes of the top 4 have dropped slightly since the market.
But it should be a great race for 4 spots between 5 teams.
@ FERBAN Why have the hopes dropped since the “market”?
Do the Milan players suddenly forget how to play to football?
Is Vlahovic suddenly going to make all of Juve’s problems go away? He didn’t make Fiorentina‘s. They’re 7th.
Surely there’s a chance that the stability at the club might give us an edge. Vlahovic might need time to settle in at Juve. The majority (yes, majority) of transfers don’t work out as intended (as in the player does not perform at the same at their new club). January signings need to settle in without any preseason.
Show some faith (and loyalty) in the players that have helped us get to second.
the top 5 spots will go to the wire , with inter ,milan or atalanta winning the scuddetto and juve napoli fighting for forth spot just like last season 👍
Jeez the media are really mad at Milan for not playing ball (well in fact they are playing football just not the completely seperate sport of “mercato”). The media is definitely part of the problem. We can forget about proper investigations into the corruption behind these ridiculous transfers. The media needs the “mercato” as much as the agents.
@maldini’s heir, Fiorentina has been a pretty decent outfit this year, actually…Dusan V is part of their resurgence.
@Maldini’s Heir. Juve is one point off fourth having scored only 34 goal. Add a goal scorer and….Totally different situation to Fiorentina, who are 7th only BECAUSE of Vlahovic. “Capocannoniere” says it all. Watch Juventus not lose for the rest of the season and finish 2nd like 3-4 pts behind Inter.
As explained by Vero & Ferban, Milan have more chances to drop out of top-4 after the mercato, at least on paper.
Napoli’s injury record has been improving with Koulibaly and Osimhen soon returns.
Atalanta usually hit top form in 2nd half of the season and they just add Boga in their ranks.
Juve’s form has already been on the rise recently and now they have prolific goal scorer.
Milan lose their best defender kjaer for the rest of the season and their center forwards are constantly injured due to old age.
Personally I hope Milan can get top-4 instead of Juve though.
Milan will Beat Inter and then win the CAMPIONATO Inter will fight for The Final Four Champions League If Juventus will be Fourth then it is If they Had won The CAMPIONATO but Sure Juve will be in the quarter Final Champions League with Real Madrid and Paris St Germain Inter Milan And Bayern Ajax Manchester city
So Milan Will have less Stress but cannot leave Points to Minor Teams and Hope Inter can lose some with Napoli Juve Atalanta
@Maldini’s Heir
Are Juve stronger with Vlahovic and Zakaria than Ramsey and Bentancur?
Yes, I’d say.
Are Milan any better? No.
Should the biggest signing of the European transfer window give Juve a boost? Yes, more than likely.
And if Vlahovic WASN’T at Fiorentina, where would they be? 10th? 15th? He pushed them up the table with his goals, so he can do the same to Juve.
I can’t imagine you’d be saying Vlahovic wouldn’t be helping Milan if he’d gone there lol. You’d love to have him at Milan.
Does everyone forget that we are currently sitting in second having played champions league and cups while dealing with injuries through the first half of this season?
We have only got the league and a cup now to worry about which reduces the amount of games we play. Our squad is big enough and good enough to get us a top 4 finish from here.
Also, might be worth noting that Maldini and Co have got us into this position with their moves in the transfer windows to date so we should really think twice before we hammer them for not making a signing. They know what they are doing.
Juve needed to spend because they are not playing well and they still have champions league and cups. They also need to make changes to get into the top 4 because it is in doubt at the moment.
Inter are strengthening to potentially be more competitive in the champions league and cups.
Both these clubs are in very different positions to us so we should not be comparing our market with theirs.