Winter champions b!tches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PIOLI IS ON FIREE LALALALAL

Can't believe we pulled this off!

F@ck I love this team

Top of the leauge bitchesss

Technically, winter champions are the ones who finish first after the first 19 weeks.

Meh, for me, we're going into Christmas break top of the league! Good enoough

Especially considering how we've managed to pull through

Hakan's corners have become pure gold as of late

I was seriously pissed at the team for most of the match. We started well, and then in typical Milan fashion we handed the keys of the game to Lazio. But after they equalised we started pushing again, and Lazio in all honesty kinda seemed happy with the draw.

But those two chances from Rebic should have been netted. Thankfully Theo gave us the 3 points!

Yeah, Rebic is still to really find his scoring touch this season. But glad to see him really getting into games again

Hopefully when the league resumes we'll get some players back. I honestly wouldn't have blamed anyone had we not won this. We have half the first 11 out, Got f@cked over by the ref, missed some really good chances on top of that, and looked fatigued at around the 50th minutes mark.

That being said, the fact that we pulled this off shows the sheer determination this group of players have to keep winning. Hakan, Rebic, Hauge and especially Theo really turned it on in those last few minutes

Atalanta and Napoli both drew, so us and Inter are starting to pull away a bit now, which is just as important and keeping first.

@OptaPaolo: AC Milan have gained 34 points in 14 Serie A games so far, exactly twice the points earned by the Rossoneri at this stage of the competition last term (17 in 14 matches).

Insane to think about

Now 10 days to recover energies and players. I think we should have recovered everyone for the Benevento game except for maybe Zlatan.

Wasn't it baffling that Inzaghi took out the best players at the 75th minute. Specially, Immobile. I felt that gave us an extra boost.

It would have killed me losing the top spot at the very end to Inter. I think we deserve it for everything we've done and showed in this 2020. The irony that such a terrible year for everyone turned out to be the best for Milan after 8 years.

Let's hope so. I'd be ok without Zlatan, as long as we get Kjear and Bennacer back I'm happy



Btw, the management must do everything they can to extend Hakan's contract, he's proven himself to be a capable leader as well ever since we lost Ibra and Kjear, him and Kessie have been the driving forces of this team imo

Yes, he provides some amazing energy and plays with a lot of intensity. But, is usually lacking that final touch. It's frustrating because I felt we could have scored so much more if he put these balls at the right place.

Come on man. Kalulu is at the start of his career. Immobile is world class and his prime. I think he did okay!

Agreed. 2020 has turned out to be an amazing year for Milan. All the players have come into their own this year. The growth we've seen has been exceptional. And I can only credit this to Pioli. Ibra has been an impeccable example for sure, but Pioli is an even bigger factor for me, and not many people acknowledge this.

Yeah, but we can't hope to be facing Juventus with Leao in attack. He was absolutely ghastly tonight. Invisible. It's even more striking when you have Rebic next to him who runs like a madman and gets involved in most of our most dangerous attacks.

I heard today that we're very serious about getting Jovic ASAP. Let's hope so.

Kalulu was good imo. I mean, I can't expect anymore from him, but he's shown some real potential in these games he's played. I think we should send him to a midtable serie A side next season, where he can get consistent minutes at CB.

Yes, I agree, Rebic should have killed these chances. I don't know, he's still not on form for sure. We'll be seeing another Rebic when he's super healthy, I hope.

Because he's at the start of his career he was out of his depth. I'm not criticising him as a player, I think he's very promising. But it's games like these that show he's not ready yet.

Leao, is who he is. He's not going to change the way he plays. We might all find it irritating, but he also possesses that x-factor imo.


We'll se if we're able to sign anyone at all this January, I read that money is very tight and we're mostly going to be focusing on a CB


If we can get Jovic on loan that would be great but for me, priority for signings is as follows

CB
DM
ST

I think a DM at this point is as important as a CB

Can't say this better!! Any other team would have settled for the draw, and just nagged around because of f@cking ref decisions (what Conte and Pirlo are doing at the moment), but we put in the grit to win the match. I really think this shows an amazing mentality from the team. Don't you agree?

It's so funny how the team plays around Theo...specially in these last minutes. That exchange with Hakan/Rebic was pure class.

Oh okay. I agree.

I have a good feeling about the Hakan extension. I say he'll settle for a 3.5 million contract.

Agreed.

The chemistry between Hakan and the left side when Rebic and Theo are playing has been amazing since last season, we just haven't been able to play them all together much this season. But when they click they can come up with some really good combos. Plus Theo is just an absolute tank, which helps


He deserves the 4m tbh

For me, he's currently the best attacking mid in the league. If we lose him we offset the balance of this team. I'm sure Paolo and the rest know this though, and I trust they'll do what they can to make sure he stays along with the rest of our most important players

I agree about Hakan, he does deserve it. Our wage sheet is really light considering all. We have some weird distribution of wages though. Musacchio is getting paid 2 million while Theo is getting paid 1.5 million. I'm hoping these small details get resolved to make space for serious and useful players.

Oh what a finish! Last minute goal to seal the oh so important victory.

Some remarks: Krunić showed his limitations today but was solid for most of the part; Tonali is however a worrying picture for me. I was completely wrong about Kessie who seemed utterly useless at the start of his Milan career, now I hope I'm wrong about Tonali - but I'm honestly not getting where all the fuss is about this guy. Seems to be neither Gattuso neither Pirlo, a kind of "Jack of all trades, master of none" player.

I must underline how Pioli has done a marvelous job. I just hope he does know how to maintain form and strategy, something he lacked while at Lazio. That being said, playing Kalulu over Musacchio today almost costed us the winter title. The kid is green and cannot be blamed, yet it's obvious that he isn't up to the task of marking experienced Serie A strikers like Destro or Immobile especially.

I hope we make the best out of the winter mercato. I'm still not sure about Jović. At first glance, he had amazing chemistry with Rebić at Eintracht. But then again he's the type of striker that can easily upset the balance of the team and I'm not sure we should go for him. I'd much rather take Scammaca or someone who would be dangerous but willing to sit on the bench and wait for his 10 minutes. I think we should concentrate on a defender, right winger in exchange for Samu and a additional midfielder. Hell, maybe even loan out Tonali, but that won't happen.

Kessie celebrating at his home

Dude, you're jumping the gun now.

... or maybe not ...

The last 4 games have been ... an interesting experience. Aged a few years in the process. Got to see most of today's game, even if technically I was working (the benefits of working from home, could keep the TV on during my meetings).

Despite missing many of our starters, we managed to hold on to 1st place. Inter is right behind, but we are several points ahead of teams the experts predicted would do much better than us. On sites like CM I keep reading comments of Inter and Juve fans, and they keep predicting we will meltdown next game. Has not happened so far, and we get to start the new year with most of our players recovered and rested.

All we need now is an opportunity to improve the team in the Winter mercato. We do not need much, but we will struggle if we have to go through the rest of the season without some reinforcements.

i believe just before xmas last year we suffered that 5-0 against Atlanta... so good to see how we have progressed during the last 12 months

Never happier to be wrong.

Showed guts in this one.

It's been an incredible 20/21 for both my teams.

Last time this happened we both won the league in 2011.

The REAL test will be sustaining it over the huge February March period.

If this Milan is still pushing at that point for the Scudetto, then just wow.

Yeah, especially Inter fans. They are so oblivious. Lost the derby, out of the CL group stages (for the third year in a row even), yet they have the guts to make such claims.

I don't think we'll win the scudetto, Inter most probably will win it. But if we do, it'll be such an immense satisfaction. Hopefully we strengthen the team during this window and don't make the mistake of claiming that "we're fine as we are".

In all honesty, I hope Inter won't win. Conte's Inter must be up there on the Piedestal of teams to despise. Not that I have any inclinations toward Inter anyhow, but this bunch of specific players plus Conte makes me hate them even more.

Yes, couldn't agree more.

Dunno. If it comes down to Inda and Rube, I will be cheering for the "cousins".

As for Conte, a few years ago I wanted to see him at Milan. Real glad that did not happen. His teams play real ugly (and they have gotten worse), he is not a nice person, his demands are ridiculous, and all he does is complain.

But back to the scudetto, what's your predictions right now? I know our chances are slim. As it stands, Inter appears to be the most likely to win it, but they have a history of meltdowns in the second half of the season, and Conte is not going to help. Juve has great players, but they do not have a team and Pirlo clearly still has a lot to learn. Also, both Inter and Juve look very shaky defensively. Napoli and Atalanta seem very inconsistent (hot one week, cold the next). Lazio does not look like a contender this year. Roma, perhaps?

Agreed. The next few months are critical.

As Han has pointed many times, we usually tend to have our best form around February onwards. No idea if that trend is going to repeat again this season, considering all the peculiarities of the situation, but it's something to keep into consideration.

As for our opponents, I only see Inter as true competitors. I'm going to discard Juve because I think this is simply not their year. They need to reinvent themselves, and with such a green coach like Pirlo it may take more than a few months.

Roma and Napoli are way too inconsistent, whereas Lazio and Atalanta seem way out of their depths.

This is the perfect year for us to make it back to the CL, and who knows, maybe even aim for a little higher. Dreaming never hurts.

But we must at all costs keep the moment and not crumble at the many difficulties that we'll eventually be faced with. That is key.

Yes, traditionally we start poorly and improve in the second half. I remember that happening back in the days of Allegri and even before that. Last season was unique, as we started with Giampaolo, then it took Pioli a little time to establish himself, and then we had COVID. Our form improved post-COVID, and has held since, continuing in the new season. True, we struggled in the last couple of months, but that is largely because we lost a lot of key players. So I think this season is a little different. I hope we get back to our best form, but I doubt it will get much better unless we add a few key players in the mercato.

Traditionally, Inter seems to struggle in the second half of the season. In some cases that went all the way to a complete implosion, other times they recovered and had a good late finish. Hard to say what will happen with Conte. Their form could hold, and if that happens they will probably win. Conte can help them achieve that. Then again, all it takes is something to go wrong (like losing Lukaku for a few games), followed by a few games ending badly (their defense is inconsistent and they rely on scoring to win), and Conte may actually be the one that triggers the meltdown. Hard to predict what will happen.

Regardless, as a few of you have said, the key is for our team to stay motivated and keep fighting like they have being doing.

Yeah and in a 9-year top level management career that's got him 3 scudettos, 2 super cups, a PL title, an FA cup and a Europa League final.

SAF was hardly complimentary either!

Looks like Bennacer won't be available until mid-January, which means we'll be missing him along with Ibra against Juventus.

The only good news is Kjaer's recovery.

Just a quick drop in to say all the best for new year all of you and hopefully 2021 sees an end to this nightmare.

Happy new year all!!

Happy New Year !!!

Happy new year y?all.

Happy new year to all... 2020 was tough and strange and I think most positive was Milan performance compared to previous years.

Strangely enough the worst year in recent history was Milan's best in a long time.

Back to matches, we play Benevento this Sunday. Plenty of injuries. Saelemaekers will be out as well for a couple of weeks due to the same muscular injury that has affected Zlatan and the others, which is becoming rather worrisome at this point. There's clearly something going on with these muscular injuries and it could be due to fatigue or bad preparation.

So, no Saelemaekers, no Zlatan, no Bennacer, no Gabbia, and no Theo suspended. Castillejo is also in doubt.

Probable line-up: Donnarumma; Calabria, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Dalot; Kessie, Tonali; Brahim, Hakan, Rebic; Leao.