This is roughly the overall figure, including UEFA prizes and box office, that the Devil would cash in by qualifying for the round of 16 of this edition. Failure to qualify would have serious repercussions and now a turning point is needed: the average points should go from 1.55 to 2.16
Despite having many gaps and suffocated by an inflation of problems to solve, Milan had not lost for a month and a half (6 December in Bergamo). The second half at the Stadium crumbled the eight-game unbeaten streak, exposing all the limitations – character, technical and squad building – of a team that now finds itself sunk in eighth place. Low and dishonorable position in proportion to the money spent to strengthen the Devil in the last two years and in view of next season, which seriously risks offering the Rossoneri club only a Serie B Europe. A helping hand at the end of the championship could come from the ranking, if this time too Italy manages to place the fifth-placed team in the Champions League, but the basic problem is that this Milan currently does not seem equipped to be able to get back on track. There are bears waiting for the salmon, and they are bears that – even if intermittently – run.
the averages
—
The three ahead of the Rossoneri have proven to be of another level – especially in terms of continuity – and, as regards the fourth and eventual fifth place, four other teams are jostling together with the Devil. The defeat against Juve is painful also and above all because it comes against a direct competitor. On the eve of Conceiçao talked about details, but the problems are macro. A team capable of winning only five times – and never against high-level opponents – in the last fourteen outings is equivalent, very simply, to a path that cannot arithmetically lead to the Champions League. At the moment Milan has an average points per game of 1.55: an average which, projected on matchday number 38, would mean 59 points. A share which, looking at the final rankings of recent seasons, would not even deliver the Conference. For the Champions League, understood as fourth place, we cannot think of anything lower than 70. It would mean an effective change of gear to the point of going from the current 1.55 points per match to 2.16. A substantial leap, for which we cannot now see the basis for being able to make it.
collections
—
The argument, or rather the problem, on the other hand is always the same: failing to qualify for the Champions League would interrupt the financial virtuous circle of recent years with obvious repercussions on the team’s medium-term growth. In strictly economic terms it would also be one diminutio absorbable, since the balance sheet is in surplus and does not present any critical issues. But it is clear that without the money from the Champions League the budget – while waiting for a stadium that in the best case scenario will see the light of day at the end of the decade – would decrease considerably. What the former Champions Cup brings with it is well known. Up to this moment, just to stay current, the Rossoneri club has grossed 54 million and on the way to the playoffs or direct qualification to the round of 16 it can reach 62. And we are only talking about UEFA prizes (i.e. market pool, historical ranking, results and participation). After that, there are box office receipts and collateral revenues linked to marketing and any sponsor prizes. A rain of money whose benefits are vital for the club’s growth ambitions. And not only that: even Conceiçao’s future, net of the year and a half of his contract, depends a lot – if not entirely – on that fourth (or fifth) place.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED