Milan had to win yesterday in Genoa, and they did it also in front of Gerry Cardinale, who wanted to stand alongside Max Allegri and the team at this decisive moment of the season. The presence of the number one of RedBird was a real blitz, considering he arrived in the Ligurian capital in the morning and left again immediately after the match, but his presence is a very significant signal and confirms his desire to stay close to the Rossoneri, who are now only one step away from achieving the club’s major seasonal objective: qualification for the next Champions League.
Close to Milan
As reported this morning by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Cardinale was in the dressing room both before the match to motivate the Milan squad ("I am by your side and I believe in you" was the essence of his first motivational speech to the group), and after the match to congratulate Allegri and the players ("Keep going on" was his second message of confidence to the group). The fact that he immediately returned to London means that today he will not have meetings at Casa Milan, because there will be time to reorganise the club; before anything else, the Diavolo must focus solely on Milan-Cagliari, a match they must win to guarantee participation in next season’s Champions League.
A loud absence
Obviously, even from afar he will continue talks so as to be ready for the moves to make as soon as the season ends. Yesterday, Cardinale watched the match with sporting director Igli Tare and Massimo Calvelli on each side of his, (Calvelli is a member of Milan’s board of directors). Therefore, CEO Giorgio Furlani was not beside him; after several difficult weeks, he too will be evaluated at the end of the season, unless he himself decides to leave the club and return to dealing with other business ventures. Equally striking was the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimović, who was away from both Genoa and Milan due to other commitments, precisely on the Sunday when Milan were playing for a large part of their seasonal objective.
