[whoarethepatriot...]

Milan could soon end up being crowned the best club on the planet, but Antonio Labbate fears their Japanese challenge may jeopardise their 2008-09 Champions League place

Milan flew out to Japan earlier this week to begin their offensive on the Club World Cup. It’s a trophy the Italian giants understandably want to come home with, especially as their fine European Cup win last May gave them the right to fight for the intercontinental title.

The problem is that their Asian assault has come at the worst possible time for a side who have clearly underperformed on the domestic scene so far this term. If things don’t change soon, Milan will struggle to finish in the top four.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men are currently sitting in a lowly joint eighth place with just 18 points under their belts. That’s a massive and humiliating 16 behind leaders Inter and 13 shy of Roma. They’re figures that, even with their abandoned game against Atalanta still to play, have already ruled them out of the Scudetto race.

Of course, Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani will testify that ending the season in the Champions League spots is all that matters, but that objective is not going to be as routine as it should be when you consider the strength, quality and depth of the squad assembled at Milanello.

Milan may currently be only seven points adrift of fourth-placed Udinese, but that gap will almost certainly increase while the first-team squad is out of the country. The Rossoneri’s League games against Reggina and Livorno have been postponed which means they may face a double-figure points deficit by the time they touch back down on Italian soil.

Rossoneri sympathisers can rightly argue that Milan will have the opportunity to make up the lost ground thanks to their games in hand, but that won’t be as easy as it sounds – neither psychologically or physically.

Those matches will potentially be transformed into must-win encounters and will be squeezed into a fixture schedule that could be as busy as last term’s, depending on their Champions League defence.

There is also the valid argument that Milan found themselves in a similar position a year ago when their Calciopoli penalty left them struggling in the first half of the season before a post-Christmas revival.

Yet a repeat will arguably be more difficult this time around in a much stronger Serie A. While their rivals for a top four place last season were represented by little Empoli and a Palermo side who spectacularly self-destructed, the competition in 2007-08 looks to be a little more solid in the form of Juventus, Udinese and Fiorentina.

With that in mind, there is a serious risk that the possible world champions – if they don’t retain their European crown – could find themselves playing in the UEFA Cup next season…

Source: Football Italia