Milan is different, more “resultist”. Good for the Champions League

Winning against Borussia Dortmund tomorrow and against Newcastle on the final day: with two successes Milan will be certain of qualifying for the Champions League round of 16. Other results will expose you to a series of combinations full of ifs and buts or will decree elimination. As they say in these cases, Milan is the master of its destiny. And captain of his soul, to complete the verse of “Invictus”, the poem by the English Henley read, reread and hyphenated by Nelson Mandela to give himself strength during his imprisonment. The moment is not the best, with numerous and penalizing injuries, suspensions and game regressions. The victory against Fiorentina recolored the table, three crucial points.

The current Champions League is important, but beware if you don’t take part in the next one, the 2024-25 edition, which is completely new, with a single championship-style group and two more matches in the first phase. A larger and richer tournament, with higher prizes. Tomorrow Stefano Pioli will have to give up Leao again, but he will have Olivier Giroud back, who was disqualified in the championship, and that’s no small thing, the group cannot ignore the French prop. Borussia Dortmund, fourth in Germany and fresh from a successful comeback against the other Borussia, the one from Mönchengladbach, is not an impossible opponent, but Milan these days seems indecipherable to us, suspended between a near past now gone and a future not yet clear. The team has lost the strong identity of the 2022 scudetto and wanders in search of a different specificity. Pioli, against Fiorentina, focused on the result, as was noticed in the recovery of the resistance to the bitter end of the advantage, and we imagine that he will replicate the format tomorrow. First win, then philosophize. A kind of ongoing conversion, from playism to resultism, due to a state of necessity. It can be useful immediately in view of Borussia.

This year in Europe Milan suffers from sterility, just two goals in four days, the two scored against PSG by Leao and Giroud. So far only Benfica have done worse, with just one goal. The numerical demonstration of how Milan has lost offensive creativity. Also tomorrow, Lazio-Celtic. Maurizio Sarri experiences the paradox of a satisfactory Champions League, with qualification within reach, and a mediocre championship. Apparent contradiction, because it was foreseeable that Lazio would not hold up in both competitions. Beat Celtic to get closer to the round of 16 and chase away bad thoughts. Inter play against Benfica in Lisbon on Wednesday, for a match that is irrelevant for the purposes of progressing to the next round and of relative importance for first place, unless Real Sociedad gets stuck against Salzburg. The sprint for the lead, crucial for a better draw, should be resolved in the final at San Siro against the Spaniards. And then Real Madrid-Napoli, Walter Mazzari at the Bernabeu against the whites without Vinicius, Camavinga and Tchouameni, to name the most recently “minted” injured players. A tempting opportunity, even if it won’t be easy to contain Jude Bellingham, the rising phenomenon.