Champions League Elimination Will Cost AC Milan Millions, And A Star

Less than seven months after reaching the Champions League semi final, Milan are on the brink of elimination from the group stage after a disastrous home defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

Milan’s 3-1 defeat to the German side means a near-miracle is required if the Rossoneri are to qualify for the knockout rounds of the competition. The tone for the evening was set when Olivier Giroud’s penalty was easily saved by Dortmund stopper Gregor Kobel inside the opening 10 minutes. Even when Samuel Chukwueze gave everyone a reminder why Milan bought him last summer with a stunning goal that saw him operate in the tightest of angles, squirm past two Dortmund defenders and angle the ball into the opposite corner to equalise, the game always felt away from Milan. They were never truly in charge of the encounter, save for the handful of minutes following Chukwueze’s goal.

Milan showed attacking intent without Rafael Leao, with the team’s talisman out through injury. This is the good news for Stefano Pioli, who for so long wanted more from his attacking players as the play became too focused on Leao. Over the past few years, Pioli’s side have been too easy to read: stop Leao and you most likely stop Milan. Christian Pulisic and Chukwueze showed that they can be a force without the Portuguese ace.

On the other hand, Pioli will be furious with Milan’s defending, epitomised by Davide Calabria and Mike Maignan. The latter, usually the paragon of consistency, was majorly at fault for Dortmund’s soul-killing third goal, when he couldn’t parry a routine shot from Karim Adeyemi and instead allowed the ball to trickle into the net. Calabria, meanwhile, produced a train wreck of a performance. Firstly giving away the foul for Dortmund’s opener, and then being completely out of position for Jamie Bynoe-Gittens’ goal just inside the box.

The foundation of Milan’s unexpected Scudetto win in the 2021/21 campaign was a solid defence, yet we have seen that disintegrate over the past 18 months. Against Dortmund, the Germans looked capable of scoring at any given opportunity, with Fikayo Tomori the only defender to walk away from the game with any credit. To compound issues for Pioli, Malick Thiaw withdrew from the game on the half hour mark and is due to be out of action until 2024. Milan have had a concerning level of injuries this season, with 16 alone in the past two months. With Pierre Kalulu and Simon Kjaer also out, Pioli is considering calling up youngster Jan-Carlo Simic from the primavera side for this weekend’s game with Frosinone.

But what is perhaps causing more concern inside Milanello is the financial cost of a second group stage exit in three years. Milan made over $108m (€100m) through a combination of prize money, TV money and gate match day revenue from their run to the final four of the competition last season. This was part of the reason the club posted a profit for the first time in 17 years just last month. Anything other than a victory away against Newcastle, coupled with a Paris Saint-Germain defeat against Dortmund, is required to qualify. Elimination from this stage would see Milan lose out on roughly $43m (€40m) compared to last season. For a club that runs a tight ship financially, an early exit would likely mean the departure of another key player next summer.

Despite sitting third in Serie A, Champions League elimination would heap even more pressure on Pioli and make any further stay beyond this season impossible. There has been a criticism around Pioli that he possesses a lack of plan B and doesn’t know how to turn things around mid-game. After four years on the Milan bench, a managerial change on the horizon looks more likely than ever. Club legend Andriy Shevchenko has even been touted as a potential replacement should Pioli get sacked in the coming weeks.

The final group stage game against Newcastle now morphs into the biggest game of the season, and should a red-and-black miracle not happen, then big changes could be afoot.