A Milan finally a team again: for Conceiçao, it’s the last chance to write a different story
Milan, Conceiçao confermato solo in un caso: un aspetto farà la differenza (Foto: Ansa) – serieanews.com
Sometimes soccer is strange. For months it all seems written, all clear, all inevitable. Then all it takes is one game – just one – to call everything into question. Or at least to ignite a doubt. Which in the world of Milan, these days, is already news.
Because yes, that’s all well and good, but it’s too easy today to get carried away by the enthusiasm of such an evening. A wide, clear-cut, almost liberating victory. But against whom? Against a team already mentally on vacation, which rather than an opponent looked like a paying audience.
Yet, despite everything, something remains. Because the way this Milan was in – and the way it got there – a night like that should not be dismissed too quickly. It is a small signal. A ray of sunshine after weeks of dark clouds.
At the end of the day, the standings are what they are: 51 points are worth ninth place and not enough to make anyone smile. But neither are they so few as to give up. They remain there, suspended, somewhere between “it’s not enough” and “it’s not over yet.”
Europe remains within reach. It is not the goal of dreams because Champions League really appears to be a mirage, but it is still a goal. And given the way the season was set up, it wouldn’t be a throw-away for Milan either.
Conceiçao, il derby di coppa e non solo: per restare serve anche altro
Only, everyone knows, the real judgment on this season finale will come elsewhere. From a precise night, in a precise stadium, against a very precise opponent. Because Sergio Conceiçao’s real game is not the one with Udinese. It is the derby. It is the Coppa Italia semifinal against Inter. And there a good night will not be enough: a feat will be needed.
Very good for the four goals 4️⃣⚽
But Conceição is happy above all for the solidity of his Milan 😃🥅🔐#UdineseMilan #SerieAEnilive #DAZN pic.twitter.com/deeXwjhbLC
– DAZN Italy (@DAZN_IT) April 11, 2025
Because between now and the end of the season everything revolves around a simple concept: winning the Coppa Italia means not only putting a trophy in the trophy cabinet, which in itself would not be bad, but also guaranteeing direct access to the next Europa League. Which is a detail not to be underestimated, since the league is likely to bring only disappointment.
Indeed, paradoxically, the Coppa Italia is so important that it could make even the standings irrelevant. Finishing seventh, eighth or tenth would change little if in the end the picture of the season is one of Milan lifting a trophy. But – and here comes the point – not even that will be enough to keep Conceiçao on the bench.
Milan a Conceiçao: non è solo una questione di trofei
Because the real difference, the one that today separates Conceiçao from possible confirmation, lies not only in results. It lies in identity. In that way of being on the field that Milan has long since lost.
Conceiçao, il derby di coppa e non solo: per restare serve anche altro (AnsaFoto) – serieanews.com
Even the walls of Milanello know it: this team for months has looked like a hodgepodge of soloists, each with his head on his own. Distracted senators, bewildered youngsters, no clear idea of what to do with the ball or without it. Fonseca has failed to bring order to it. Neither has Conceiçao succeeded (so far). But now he has one last, small window to try.
To show that at least the group has returned to follow him. That there is discipline, compactness, hunger. That Milan, in doubt, is back to being a team. Because in the end that is what the club will be looking at. This is what the new sporting director, who is called upon to decide what to do with the technical project, will also want to see.
Maybe in a month’s time it will even be possible to tell that Milan ended a very complicated season with a Super Cup, an Italian Cup and a decent league finish. But that won’t be enough if the “quid” isn’t there. Trophies matter, sure. But they count much more when they are the result of a credible journey, not an isolated flare-up.
This article Milan, Conceiçao confirmed only in one case: one aspect will make the difference appeared in its original version first on SerieANews.
