A derby win cannot change Milan’s season because missing out on the next Champions League would cause significant economic and image damage. However, the 3-0 victory on Wednesday against Inter, qualification for the Coppa Italia final on May 14 in Rome, and finishing the five city derbies of 2024–25 with a record of three wins and two draws have reignited the fire in the hearts of Milan fans. There is once again a desire for a Great Milan. For the present and especially for the future.
Avenging Last Season's Humiliation...
The humiliation suffered last year, when their cousins won the second star’s Scudetto right at the team's home ground, has been "avenged" by halting Inzaghi’s team’s run towards the treble. A satisfaction more for the fans than for the team, which is now “tuned in” to the possibility of putting a second trophy of the season on the shelf after the Italian Super Cup in January. It would be the fifty-first in the club’s history, the second of the RedBird era.
The disappointing performances in Serie A (currently ninth place) and in Europe (elimination at the hands of Feyenoord and failure to reach the round of 16) would still remain, but with two cups, perhaps, the bitterness would be slightly less.
Winning the Coppa Italia would above all guarantee access to the next Europa League. It’s certainly not a stage comparable to the Champions League, neither in terms of worldwide television exposure nor (especially) in terms of UEFA revenue, but not being out of European football (something that last happened to Milan in 2019–20 after the agreement with UEFA and the TAR ruling for non-compliance with Financial Fair Play) would allow the club to maintain its international status, symbolized by the patch with the seven European Cup-Champions League titles that Maignan and his teammates wore on their sleeves even this season, as relayed via Gazzetta dello Sport's website.
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Imagining winning the next Scudetto from the "abyss" of the current ninth place is neither impossible nor utopian. Napoli proves it: after finishing tenth in 2023–24, now with Conte on the bench, they are fighting for the title with Inter. Milan, perhaps boosted in morale by the two trophies won in 2024–25 (one still missing...), will start determined to fight for the top and to sew the second star onto their chest.
However, the enthusiasm generated by qualifying for the Coppa Italia final must not be wasted. At Casa Milan, they know this well. That’s why Sergio Conceição has asked the team not to take their foot off the accelerator ahead of tomorrow’s game against Venezia. And the club agrees with the coach’s approach, so much so that yesterday Ibrahimovic and sporting director Moncada showed up at the training centre. Not to celebrate the derby victory, but to make the management’s presence felt.
This season, the team has lacked consistency in performance, and as Reijnders explained in a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, "after the victory at the Bernabeu, we drew at Cagliari. If you want to fight to win the league, you cannot afford that."
Final Push: Building the Winning Mentality
Thus, in Venice, Milan must play... like Milan and take the three points. And then it will be mandatory to repeat against Genoa and Bologna, the other two Serie A matches before the Coppa final against Italiano’s Rossoblù. Because the winning mentality for next season is being built now, as 'Milanismo' once again ignites the Rossoneri people.
