Milan ultras lose faith and weaknesses are clearly visible – a small miracle is needed

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a God complex. In a playful piece during AC Milan’s summer transfer window, the Swede introduced one new signing after another as a day of creation. For example, Emerson Royal was acquired from Tottenham Hotspur on the fifth day. In Bible studies, that was when the good Lord populated the rivers and the seas.

Milan fans still hold on to that gloomy feeling.

With Milan falling behind to Lazio before the international break and on the verge of losing for the second time in three games, Ibrahimovic’s absence from the Stadio Olimpico did not go unnoticed.

Milan’s new coach Paulo Fonseca had previously dropped Rafa Leao and Theo Hernandez. When they combined to score the equalizer seconds after coming on, the pair distanced themselves from Fonseca as he gave a team talk during a cool-down. Standing on opposite sides of the touchline, the gulf between Milan’s stars and their manager was prematurely interpreted as a rift. Hernandez later clarified his literal position. Leao and his winger needed no further tactical instruction so soon after coming on.

It was, in the words of Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani at a press conference, “a non-event.” To the media, however, it was an event horizon; a black hole beyond which no light or radiation can escape. The Olimpico is just a rickety tram ride from Vatican City, where the pious doctrine of Catholicism looms large in the ivory shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica. The incident begged the question: Had Ibrahimovic been present, would Leao and Hernandez have acted as they did? Would God have spoken?

(Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images)

It’s a moot point in many ways. Milan didn’t need Ibrahimovic to be at the San Siro at the weekend to secure their first win of the season over promoted Venezia. An executive team had already been assembled before Milan owner Gerry Cardinale appointed him an operating partner in his asset management fund, including a role as a senior advisor to Milan. Furlani and sporting director Geoffrey Moncada had overseen a league title before RedBird Capital Partner took over the club in 2022.

Zlatan the Almighty doesn’t always have to be there. He joked at the end of the transfer window that God rested on the seventh day. And then he joked to Sky Italia: “When the lion is gone, the cats appear.”

The Lion returned on Tuesday for the opening Champions League match against Liverpool at San Siro.

Zlatan appeared on Sky Italia for the match and was able to see one of his former coaches, Milan great Fabio Capello, and Zvonimir Boban, making a timely return to punditry, in the TV studio. Boban, an intellectual fire-eater in boots, played under Capello and later became a manager at the club alongside Paolo Maldini. He had pushed to bring Ibrahimovic back to the club in 2020. It was seen as a crucial move to reset Milan’s culture, raise standards and win the title in 2021. Boban wasn’t there to see it. He had been sacked for giving an interview to Gazzetta dello Sport in which he criticised his own club’s strategy.

Boban spoke to the pinky again last week, this time expressing his bewilderment at Ibrahimovic’s role. “Ibra is a genius,” he said, “and I will be eternally grateful to him because he came back for the love of the club, and changed the recent history of Milan and of all of us. That said, to judge him, I don’t understand what he does and what his responsibilities are. I hope he understands them, because in the end he will be the one judged, not Moncada.”

Wherever Ibrahimovic had been during his time away from Milan, he had clearly read Boban’s conversation with Gazzetta and was not about to let him forget it. When Boban tried to exchange pleasantries on Sky Italia — “It’s always a pleasure to see the great Zlatan” — the Swede quickly retorted: “You still haven’t understood my role.” As a police officer at a famous Dinamo Zagreb-Red Star Belgrade match in 1990 discovered, Boban is not one to shy away from a fight. “Nobody has,” he shot back.

Ibrahimovic, by now enjoying the verbal sparring, smiled at the camera and said: “Let me explain it to you then: I’m in charge. I’m the boss and everyone works for me.”

So it’s AZ Milan?

“We work in silence,” he said, knowing his words would cause a lot of noise. If the team performs and wins follow, then God is good. If not, then faith is tested and a common refrain comes to mind. If God is real, why would he let this happen?

Van Dijk scores against Milan (Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Milan took two points from nine at the start of the season, partly because they conceded twice in a game, and always the same goal. As the team bus drove to San Siro at the weekend, the ultras lining the streets unfurled a banner reading: “No more excuses. This is the last chance.” Milan responded by taking a 4-0 lead within half an hour.

It was a call from themselves. But one that went unheeded by the fair-weather fans on Tuesday. San Siro was not sold out for the biggest home game of the expanded Champions League stage. The Curva Sud was packed as usual, with a choreography of the word “FEARLESS.” But the other side was irregular. That’s unusual since the stadium reopened after Covid-19 restrictions. Last year, Milan’s games were the fifth-best attended in Europe, for example, with 1.3 million fans passing through the turnstiles.

There has been talk of high ticket prices, but it seems there is work to be done to get fans back on side after the sacking of Maldini and sale of Sandro Tonali last year. A grace period has passed and while many supporters recognised it was time to move on from Stefano Pioli, the appointment of Fonseca and the decision to sign multiple players for €20m rather than a big, flashy name has led to an element of discontent.

Tuesday night started well against an opponent as accustomed to beating AC Milan at the San Siro as Inter Milan have been in recent years. Man of the Match last weekend, Christian Pulisic, put Milan in charge, finishing off a well-executed move that started at the feet of goalkeeper Mike Maignan. But Liverpool, who hit the woodwork twice, were aware of Milan’s weaknesses; at right-back, where captain Davide Calabria replaced Royal, and in the air, where Liverpool defenders Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk dominated.

As the match drew to a close, a chant went up in the Sud. “Fuori coglioni!” The ultras want the players to show some balls. Next up are Inter, who secured the Serie A title in last season’s derby and reached the Champions League final at the expense of Milan the season before that. Although it’s still early days — probably the eighth or ninth in the creation of a new cycle at the club — a small miracle on Sunday would be welcome.

(Top photo: Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)