Milan Must Heed Paolo Maldini Advice As One Moment Crystallizes Gap

On a night of spine-tingling electricity that only the sport of football produces, Milan’s performance in the first leg against city rivals Inter could be encapsulated by one sequence in the 50^th minute.

With the home side already two goals behind and needing one of their own to get back into the game, Davide Calabria passed the ball to Sandro Tonali just yards from the centre circle. Tonali turned and ghosted past Henrikh Mkhitaryan, surging into the Inter half. Junior Messias, on the right-hand side, noticed Inter’s back line had made a miscalculation and a massive gap emerged. The Brazilian ran into the empty channel and was fed by Tonali.

Messias sprinted towards goal with the ball in toe. Now just inside the Inter penalty area, he opened up his body and attempted to bend the ball with his left foot into the bottom corner of Andre Onana’s goal. A decibel level inside San Siro rose expectantly as Messias shaped himself up. The execution was poor, with Messias’ shot way off target and not troubling Onana in the slightest. Tens of thousands of groans could be heard in unison.

It was one of Milan’s only chances to get back into the game – and the tie. The anguish on Olivier Giroud’s face following the shot said it all: Messias simply had to do better. Yet it showed the limitations of the current Milan team and where they are in their development as a club.

Without Rafael Leao, Milan looked short of creativity and devoid of any real tangible goal threat. Moreover, losing Ismael Bennacer after only 18 minutes further hampered Milan, and the disparity between the two Milan sides could be found in the changes Stefano Pioli and Simone Inzaghi made: Messias replaced Bennacer, while Inzaghi was able to bring on Marcelo Brozovic, Romelu Lukaku, Joaquin Correa and Stefan De Vrij. Levels.

Any casual viewer of Italian football could tell which club is being run in a streamlined manner and posting losses of €66m ($72m) for 2021-22, and the one currently €390m ($426m) in the red.

And this was reflected in the game. Inter had quality all over the pitch, and Milan simply didn’t.

It was something Paolo Maldini touched on before the game. Maldini has worked wonders at the club, as has Pioli and sporting director Ricky Massara in getting Milan to this stage. But the legendary defender urged club owners RedBird to seize the moment and invest this summer.

If the semi final is indeed the end of the road for Milan in this season’s Champions League, the club will have earned around €100m ($109m) through UEFA
EFA
prize money and match day revenue. With club debt relatively healthy (in comparison to their rivals), the club is now in a position to spend some of that money on strengthening the team.

Of course, things become a little trickier should the club not manage to secure a top four finish this season, with Milan’s transfer budget relying on Champions League money for next season, but failure to invest this summer could see the club slide backwards.

There are many in the Milan starting XI who simply aren’t Champions League semi final calibre players, and Maldini no doubt recognises this. That was evident against Inter, and Messias’ 50^th minute miss crystallised it, a shot unworthy of the magnitude of the occasion.

Even if Leao returns and Milan miraculously turn it around next week to make the final, the club’s American owners need to heed Maldini’s advice.