“There Is A Huge Disappointment For A Trophy Which We Could’ve Won"

Written By Onyeka Daniel

They might have gone into the match as the favorite, but it ended in a rather disappointing manner for Italian giants, AC Milan in the final of the Coppa Italia as they lost to Bologna at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, thanks to a second half goal from Dan Ndoye.

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This result perfectly sums up their season, well, at least according to the club director Giorgio Furlani, who revealed that they cannot deny that it is a failure of a season after loss that could have far reaching consequences, especially in the transfer market.

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There were some suggestions that a second piece of silverware after January’s Supercoppa Italiana could potentially rescue a doomed season, but it didn’t go as expected for the Diavoli. Instead, the defeat has laid bare the disastrous results under both Paulo Fonseca and Sergio Conceicao.

“I wish firstly to congratulate Bologna for this historic achievement for the club and the city,” Furlani said. “After that, I cannot deny this is a failure of a season. Despite winning the Supercoppa, we are still a long way off where we wanted to be. Now there are two games left to play.”

“We will try to end the season in the best possible way, even if we are distant from the targets that we had set at the start of the campaign. We share the disappointment of our fans, I as a supporter and now as a director have to admit various errors were made.”

“We must go forward, correct them, and get back to where we ought to be.” Winning the Coppa Italia was Milan’s best chance of qualifying for the Europa League, so now they sit eighth in Serie A and may well struggle even to get into the Conference League.

Furlani was asked if there are any radical changes on the horizon and his reply was a stonewall at best. “At this moment there is huge disappointment for this match, a trophy which we could’ve won. I don’t feel ready to answer this question right now.”

“There are another 12 days to go in the season and two games, then we will make some decisions and see.” He continued in the post-match interview with SportMediaset. Then for club owner, Gerry Cardinale was not in Rome for the Final, so did he communicate with Furlani since the end of the match?

Plus is there still the desire to keep investing in the club? “We have not had contact in the last two hours, but he will be as disappointed as me for the game and this season. Everyone knows what the Milan project is, so you know the answer to that question,” he replied.

“I cannot answer these things now.” Furlani continued as he has been directly involved in the search for a new director of sport, but after months of talks and several different candidates in pole position, now it seems as if the club might not appoint anyone for that role at all.

Meanwhile, for Conceiçao, he admitted that they could’ve done more in the second half, but did not want to ‘seek alibis’ with some refereeing decisions. “The first half was balanced, we had a few chances to score and taking the lead in these games is important. I admit, we could’ve done more in the second half. He told SportMediaset.

“Bologna had a bit of luck with the goal, I don’t want to take anything away from our opponents, Bologna did well to win the trophy, but after that there was very little football played.” The coach and his players were furious with referee Maurizio Mariani just before half-time.

They felt that Lewis Ferguson should’ve had a second yellow card for a tussle with Christian Pulisic. “I don’t want to seek alibis with the referee, there were two or three controversial situations, but I don’t want to make them seem like excuses. We should’ve done more.”

“We won the Supercoppa, we got all the way in the Coppa Italia, now we will try to end this season with dignity.” The former Porto manager continued. “There is another important game coming up in this stadium against Roma on Sunday. I am sorry for the fans who were so enthusiastic, it was a disappointment for everyone.”

“We could’ve done more, but these are balanced encounters, they are decided by details, so they scored and we did not.” Milan continue their record of losing more Coppa Italia Finals than any other club as they’ve managed just five victories in 14 attempts.

To further compound their woes, they also now risk missing out on Europe altogether, sitting eighth in Serie A with only two rounds remaining until the end of the 2024-25 season. Considering the defeat, would Conceicao going back make the same decisions about his starting XI and his substitutes?

“There are 10,000 things going through your mind in these situations, at the end of the day everyone is a great coach in hindsight. Before the match, I did what I needed to do, I followed my ideas, so I’d make the same decisions. It’s different now that we know what didn’t work, but this is football.”

”Bologna had a high press and Milan struggled to build out from the back, so started going for long balls. We had prepared to use our goalkeeper as a sweeper, but at times we were forced to be too hasty and play it long. In any case, the first 25 minutes weren’t bad.” He said.

Conceicao won the Supercoppa Italiana in only his second game in charge and was seen celebrating and dancing with a cigar in the locker room, but that will be the sum total of what might be a brief tenure on the Milan bench. “It was a hard-fought match, very competitive, where every duel could be decisive.”

I think that reflects our season. The disappointment I talked about was just losing a Final, the opportunity to win silverware, in a difficult season with a very difficult environment. At the end of the day, I have to congratulate Bologna, as they played their game well and we were lacking something.”

Read Also: Italian Serie A, 36th Round: Top 10 Goals Of The Week

The presenter tried to get Conceicao to open up on his Milan future, asking if they would see him in the Coppa Italia again next season. “We’ll see each other on Sunday for the next Serie A game,” was his reply with a wry smile as reports of his eventual exit at the end of the season continues to gain grounds.

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