[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]

Tomorrow is going to be hell outside Via turati. F*ck you Galliani! F*ck you Silvio!

[Guest_Suhail 3_*]

Tomorrow is going to be hell outside Via turati. F*ck you Galliani! F*ck you Silvio!

i hope InshAllah it is hope that the milan ultras an even regular fans go mental utterly mental cause i know i would only fact is im here in england and cant throw a shoe at berlusconis head

[Bluesummers]

There must be a way to force silvio to sell the club, I can't stand this anymore.

[Guest_Suhail 3_*]

There must be a way to force silvio to sell the club, I can't stand this anymore.

ive been saying the exact same thing to myself for weeks now bro _ and today im just failin to moan outta exhaustion hes the biggest prick who is an enemy to milan

the only way hes gonna leave is when it hits the cheque book even more like no fans attending no season tickets etc or if some ultras give death threats anything works for me as long as he goes

[il_diavolo_mtl]

ive been saying the exact same thing to myself for weeks now bro _ and today im just failin to moan outta exhaustion hes the biggest prick who is an enemy to milan

the only way hes gonna leave is when it hits the cheque book even more like no fans attending no season tickets etc or if some ultras give death threats anything works for me as long as he goes

as much as that's crossed all our heads i hope to have him humiliated, not killed (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[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.

[il_diavolo_mtl]

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.

i think we are past laughing at him lol, he overstepped that this summer

[il_diavolo_mtl]

More Milan Reactions From Goal.com Followers
Everyone is having their say on the state of the Rossoneri...

Some are calling for coach Leonardo to be sacked, others are attacking president Silvio Berlusconi, and many are wondering whether Milan's performance was of a Serie B standard.

Here are what Goal.com followers have been saying over the past few hours:

acmilan789: I still can't stop laughing. We lost to Zurich. All due respect to them, but Zurich? I am ashamed to say to anybody that i am AC Milan fan. I am fan of AC Milan from 1988, but this is worst team in all those years. I thank Berlusconi for bringing our team to those crowns in Italy and in Europe.

nbaumann: A little respect for Zurich goes a long way, they wouldn't be in the CL if they weren't decently good. No need to call them pathetic or insult the Swiss. Milan is just in a downward spiral, what we're doing is just not working, Berlusconi just needs to sell the club and let someone else take charge.

rodneyknuckles: The club was turned in a new direction this summer with the coach and star both leaving; AC need stability right now, firing a coach won't be the answer. As a supporter of Madrid, I can tell you that the coach is seldom the problem, nor the answer...Get Well AC!

And a little ray of hope from two Rossoneri fans:

moey86 I think you guys are over-reacting a bit. You will not be relegated and you will not be hammered 7-0 by Real Madrid. Despite everything, I think you will qualify for the last 16. You beat Marseille away and I believe those are three CRUCIAL points.

Zurich beat you, yes. however, what else will they achieve? will they defeat Madrid at the Bernabeu? no... Marseille anywhere? No.. Beat Marseille at home or even DRAW with them, and the only thing you would need to do is beat Zurich away to qualify.This is assuming you don't pick up any points from Real...which, you never know, you might...

milanista: We will be back sooner rather than later. I just hope that it will not be late. Forza Milan!

Have your say on what Milan need to do to improve the current situation.

Rick D'Andrea, Goal.com

[Jack Sparrow]

"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."

Ace! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Zed.D]

I can smell changes... there's no way we can continue like this. something will happen soon!

[Jack Sparrow]

I see that we both want Marco back.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[Locke Lamora]

i hope InshAllah it is hope that the milan ultras an even regular fans go mental utterly mental cause i know i would only fact is im here in england and cant throw a shoe at berlusconis head

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Talk about feeding the stereotype.

[Dzeko]

I see that we both want Marco back.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Um im for Marco but im for Spaleti too!!!

[dst]

In the words of someone whose name I cannot recall, "crisis is when the old is dead and the new has not been born yet"... I say finish this... bring an end to the crisis... let's destroy this club!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/devil.gif)