Milan travel to lowly Verona on Friday in search of some festive cheer as the seven-time kings of Europe battle faltering form and the wrath of fans while local rivals and Serie A champions Inter pull out all the stops. Future Milan fans demand excitement and trophies, and this season so far has little of the former and is unlikely to end in the latter. Paulo Fonseca’s side sit eighth in Italy’s top flight, 14 points behind league leaders Atalanta – albeit with a game in hand – and are in disarray as the coach appears to be at the end of his rope just six months into his tenure on San Siro.
The Portuguese came into open conflict with senior players and questioned his team’s commitment, repeatedly targeting his compatriot and star striker. Raphael Leao and the refusal of the French national team defender Theo Hernandez for the teenage academy player in last weekend’s dismal goalless draw with Genoa.
Meanwhile, fans are at war, attacking the owners on Saturday as the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations were marred not only by a poor match and the apparent absence of Paolo Maldini from the iconic players marching on the pitch, but also by chants demanding US investment fund RedBird sell off.
Fans then appeared outside a private anniversary party, corralling most of the arriving players and displaying banners with messages like: “A club without ambition, you are unworthy of our history.”
A by-product of these high-profile protests is that Fonseca is taking Milan to Verona, where his job is reportedly on the line and the Italian media is spreading rumors about the former national team coach. Roberto Mancini as a replacement if they leave the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi with less than three points.
This may not be an easy task as Verona only failed to beat Juventus last time out due to a penalty in stoppage time.
Milan’s problems were compounded for fans by Inter’s 6-0 thrashing of Lazio. This victory showed that they are not going to give up their league crown easily.
Third-placed Inter are three points behind Atalanta with a game in hand when they host Como on Monday night in their final Serie A match before Christmas, and there are signs that Simone Inzaghi’s players are ready to get into the new game.
Inzaghi will be without his injured star midfielder Nicolo Barella and defenders Francesco Acerbi And Benjamin Pawar but he has strong deputies who have shown that they can fit into the established coaching system.
Atalanta host Empoli on Sunday, maintaining a two-point lead over Napoli, fresh from thrashing Serie B side Cesena 6-1 in the Coppa Italia and eyeing a club-record 11th successive win in the Coppa Italia league.
Player to watch: David Neres (Napoli).
Brazil international Neres has largely remained as back-up to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia since his arrival from Benfica in August but has always impressed with his appearances from the bench.
And Kvaratskhelia’s knee injury led to a rare start for Neres at Udinese, where he demonstrated his direct running and dynamism.
Neres will feature in Antonio Conte’s starting line-up for just the fifth time in Genoa on Saturday night, where the hosts play their first match since being bought by Romanian businessman Dan Sucu on Wednesday.
Basic Statistics
10 – Atalanta’s current winning streak in Serie A, a club record.
11 – Number of points separating Milan from Inter.
Fixtures (GMT time)
Friday
Verona vs Milan (1945)
Saturday
Turin v Bologna (1400), Genoa v Naples (1700), Lecce v Lazio (1945)
Sunday
Rome vs Parma (11:30), Venice vs Cagliari (1400), Atalanta vs Empoli (1700), Monza vs Juventus (1945)
Monday
Fiorentina – Udinese (1730), Inter Milan – Como (1945)
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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