[il_diavolo_mtl]

Fan Anger Reaches Fever Pitch As Milan Fall Again
A humiliating home loss has the supporters enraged...

We see in the picture to the right a near-full house of Milan fans. But with the Rossoneri having lost 1-0 to lowly FC Zurich this evening, such massive attendances of the faithful are looking like a thing of the past.

It was a half-empty stadium that witnessed Wednesday night's Champions League tie, and those that did come - barring the admirably large Swiss contingent - may well have wished that they hadn't, given that 'Zuri' took an early lead and did not surrender it from there.

To say that the fans were angry would be to employ a sober Swiss understatement. This, rather, was an Italian evening: the players suffered no ends of boos and whistles, and coach Leonardo, who has cut a mainly sympathetic figure since being handled the poisoned chalice of the Rossoneri this summer, will have the jeers ringing in his ears for some weeks to come.

Meanwhile, Goal.com Italy captured the mood in Italian football in general perfectly with a sardonic, almost resigned take on events:



Crisis? Timely as always ...
Not even in the Champions League can Milan escape their crisis. Tonight came a home defeat against Zurich in the competition. The Swiss took a tenth minute advantage, but the Rossoneri appeared lacklustre and were also a bit unlucky, hitting the post twice. Overall, they failed to gain a draw.

The detached wisdom of the journalist is one thing. The ire of the Italian fans was quite another in the reader comments.

Max from Enna said, "Does Galliani understand that he has built a ridiculous squad? And one with a ridiculous coach - yes, we're inadequate, but we're not as bad as Livorno, Bari and Zurich, meaning we won't even come sixth. The shame!"

One fan questioned the role of Silvio Berlusconi. "This owner will drag us in the abyss... it is clear that we must convince him to sell or we'll slip back into Serie B, title record or not."

Raffaele from Napoli's response mostly had to be edited for reasons of taste, but one part got through. "Milan have robbed me of 800 euros with this defeat!" (What is it they say about betting again?)

And Milos from Serbia, with tongue firmly lodged in cheek, concluded, "Well, this defeat could be beneficial. The earlier Milan are out of the Champions League, the more they can focus on the fight to avoid relegation."

The fans on the Goal.com Forums were no less harsh:

ciro1316 says: "Today we were disgraceful. This is not Milan - this is garbage. Time to clean house. I don't want to hear who played well or who played bad - I want action. Things need to change. All players apart from Silva, Nesta, Pato, Flamini and Abate need to go."

Jespswe added: "I'm frankly tired of Leonardo's, the players', and Galliani's excuses. Our guys are like, oh, we played well but didn't score. That's always their excuse. It couldn't be any worse than this."

And you? What is your thought?

Steve Michaels, Goal.com

[Bluesummers]

He's been humiliated enough already. He probably can't even walk in the streets of milan without being laughed at or getting angry statements made at him.