When Alessio Romagnoli scored the penalty that sent Milan into the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday, cutting through the Stadio Olimpico chill to see off Lazio at last, the noise around the Rossoneri’s on-pitch revival hit its highest pitch yet. In the aftermath Rino Gattuso, architect of a 13-game unbeaten run, felt compelled to underline that he is “not a great coach … not a guru of the bench”; Leonardo Bonucci, meanwhile, was moved to hail achievements that “just a few months ago seemed impossible”. The inescapable sense was that of a tide turning at long last.
Arsenal will provide the next test of Milan’s new-found strength, with the first leg of their last-16 Europa League tie in Italy on Thursday, but the nagging fear – beneath the wave of comparisons between Gattuso and Antonio Conte, as well as the obvious relief that Bonucci’s costly summer move from Juventus is beginning to look worthwhile – is that a far more fundamental, and serious, weakness lies beneath.
The murmurs about their financial situation, the source of endless speculation since Li Yonghong’s takeover was finalised in April 2017, will not go away and unease will persist at the very least until Uefa, which is monitoring their adherence to financial fair play, makes any sanctions known in the coming months.
Source : theguardian
No comments:
Post a Comment