Depsite being in numerical superiority, the AC Milan team of Stefano Pioli could not find a goal and instead conceded towards the end against Torino.
La Gazzetta dello Sport, in this morning's print edition, analysed the performance of one of the players who disappointed once again and that is Charles De Ketelaere. He was given a chance as a starter and was deployed to take the striker role. However, he is not the only one to blame. To attribute the failure to qualify only to the performance of the Belgian is too much, since the whole team has struggled immensely.
Paolo Maldini, for his part, continues to believe in his summer signing and he still protects him. Last night, before the match, he said the following to SportMediaset (full interview here):
"He’s a 21-year-old, young player with a 5-year contract and on whom a long-term project has been made. You can’t think that a Coppa Italia match in January is a last resort. I think this is wrong, we have to be balanced. We have seen it many times, and I think the Tonali issue has taught many a lot. We have to wait for these young players who still need to find something different to what they have had before to get to Milan."
