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00:00 The absence of gravity is that feeling that sometimes astronauts feel.
00:04 It's like floating on the Russian mountains, especially when you suddenly go down.
00:09 And probably this was one of the constant sensations of the Rossonera season 2023-2024.
00:16 Perhaps not entirely and only an absence of gravity, but certainly an absence of graduality and a total presence of unpredictability.
00:24 The Rossonera season started in August, when all the Milan fans had the feeling of a hard calendar right at the beginning of the season.
00:32 Ready-to-go, the first day is the transfer from Bologna.
00:35 Then the match, always hostile, at home against Turin.
00:38 And then the traditional transfer from Rome against the Giallorossi in the classic Bolgiacatino of the Olympics.
00:44 And instead, here are three wins out of three.
00:47 Nine points, many goals. Two in Bologna, four against Turin.
00:50 Two in Rome against Rome. And a remarkable, important demonstration of play.
00:54 To the point that, after the 24-1 win at San Siro from Milan against Turin,
00:59 the technical Granada Ivan Iuric has limited himself to releasing a tearful statement,
01:04 he usually very combative even in post-match interviews.
01:07 "There was never a race."
01:09 The same feeling that the players of Rome, still trained by Giuseppe Mourinho, had at the end of the first half of Rome-Milan,
01:16 when the result was 1-0 for the Rossoneri.
01:18 And when the home team gave the clear and clear feeling of not having understood anything about the game,
01:23 from a technical and tactical point of view.
01:25 And so, a very serene Milan goes to the first stop of the season.
01:29 Just like that, in early September the season stops, national spaces,
01:33 returns to the pitch with the derby at home of Inter and here begins the season,
01:37 clamorously up and down, of Milan.
01:39 The painful 5-1 loss against the Nerazzurri could immediately mark the season in the negative,
01:45 and instead the team regains.
01:47 Milan dominate against Newcastle in the Champions League, even if the game ends 0-0,
01:52 and even if, there is the great satisfaction for everyone to embrace Sandro Tonari.
01:57 Then in the league only victories, at home against Verona, Cagliari against the always square formation of Claudio Ranieri,
02:02 and at home 2-0 against Lazio, two great flights by Raffaele Aue and goals by Pulisic and Okafor.
02:08 At the end of the game, you can feel the feeling of having given a strong message to the league,
02:13 even if Stefano Pioli prefers to stay on his feet,
02:16 it is in fact a very intense week,
02:18 you still have to go and play in Dortmund against Borussia in the Champions League on Wednesday,
02:23 and then on Saturday, a tight round of Amarassi against Genoa,
02:27 two transfers in the few days, a great waste of energy,
02:30 in two turns, one after the other, but Milan do well.
02:33 The team Red-Black draws, creating many chances and dominating Dortmund,
02:37 and wins with a goal by Christian Pulisic in the final at Amarassi.
02:41 Despite the 1-5 against Inter, at the break for the October nationals,
02:45 Milan come first, alone in the table, with two points of advantage over the rivals in the Black and Blue,
02:50 seven games of the championship won, out of eight played.
02:53 I experienced, like all our fans, a great anxiety,
02:59 because we managed to unlock a very difficult game,
03:02 especially for the merit of our opponents,
03:05 who played a very intelligent, very careful, very energetic defensive game,
03:09 so we had difficulties.
03:11 But after Mike's expulsion, it was clear that he put us in a very good shape.
03:15 It seemed that he wanted to go to Porta Cristiana,
03:17 but then he said "maybe it's better to go there, it's a little higher".
03:20 It went very well.
03:21 We must congratulate Olli, but I think he is part of a mind-set,
03:26 of a team that never wants to give up, that wants to believe in it to the end,
03:29 and that was, in my opinion, rightly rewarded.
03:32 The first break of the championship for the nationals is very serene in Milan's home.
03:37 The atmosphere in Milan is light, many smiles, but at some point,
03:40 suddenly, you have to deal with a serious and hard unexpected,
03:43 the injury of Marco Sportiello.
03:45 Injuries are part of football, part of a long season,
03:48 but to suffer it, like Sportiello's,
03:50 just at the moment when Mignan is disqualified for the expulsion from Genoa,
03:54 where he had finished the game with honour and glory,
03:57 with the jersey of goalkeeper Olivier Giroud, is a real low blow.
04:00 In fact, it is about preparing the game with Juventus,
04:04 with the awareness of having to play in goal Antonio Mirant,
04:07 the third goalkeeper of Milan, a serious professional,
04:10 a player who has always trained with scruples,
04:12 but still the third goalkeeper of Milan.
04:15 Sportiello's injury is a negative step, and in fact, from that episode on,
04:19 Milan has the chain of most negative results of the first part of the season.
04:23 Four games and two points won.
04:26 It's not about negative performances, but about negative episodes.
04:29 Like against Juventus, when Milan starts strong,
04:32 and shoots the goal, but on a counter-attack Malik Chao is sent off,
04:35 and then the Rossoneri have to face Juventus for the most part,
04:39 in 10 against 11.
04:41 Yet Milan seems to hold, the team seems to keep the field,
04:44 so much so that in the middle of the shoot-out the result is still 0-0,
04:47 but a shot from Locatelli is deflected by Khrunich,
04:50 and for Milan there is nothing to do.
04:52 The expulsion and the chain of penalties, two negative episodes
04:55 that are represented on time in Naples,
04:57 after losing 3-0 on the field of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
05:01 Milan, in fact, faces the transfer of Maradona,
05:03 with the weight on their shoulders, of two defeats against Juve and PSG.
05:07 But in Naples, the game starts well, the team starts strong.
05:10 The first half is clearly dominated, 2-0 in Milan's favour,
05:13 and a great opportunity for the 3-0 failure of very few by the Reinders.
05:18 Yet the episodes, also in that case, were in the water,
05:21 they were behind the corner.
05:22 Already in the first half, in fact, they stop for misfortune,
05:24 first Pierre Calullo and then Christian Polisic.
05:26 And at that point, the Rossoneri's technical staff
05:28 chooses to send two young players on the field,
05:30 two boys, Marco Pellegrino in defence and Luca Romero in front.
05:34 Vasi communicates.
05:35 A Napoli in a strong crisis, feels graced,
05:38 especially by the mistake of Milan,
05:39 who did not score the third goal at the end of the first half,
05:42 and manages to come back 2-2.
05:44 The same thing will happen in Lecce,
05:46 a transfer that Milan faced after losing 1-0 at home against Udinese,
05:50 a strange game, so badly played, that it does not even seem to have been played.
05:55 But between Milan-Udinese 0-1 and Lecce-Milan 2-2,
05:58 a game with the same dynamics as Napoli,
06:00 the Rossoneri live one of their historic nights.
06:03 Milan gives away the great emotions of the Champions League
06:08 under the lights of the San Siro's spotlight.
06:10 Milan-Paris Saint-Germain is a night of history,
06:13 a game like many, if there are lived, but always special,
06:16 a game in perfect alignment with the Rossoneri's mythology in the Champions League.
06:20 Milan wins with Rafael Leao's cross and with the great header from Olivier Giroud.
06:26 The great fan of all sectors of San Siro impressed Yunus Musa.
06:30 I was surprised how noisy it was,
06:33 and I started to smile because obviously for us it's nice,
06:37 but for PSG it should be very uncomfortable,
06:40 so that helped us a lot tonight.
06:43 I think that even if we had scored,
06:46 we knew we were in the game because we were creating opportunities,
06:49 we were doing well, and we didn't let this blow crush us.
06:53 We still thought that we had to keep going like this,
06:56 we can never give up, and that's what we did.
07:00 We were very united after the defeat the other day,
07:04 and we said that we, Milan, had to win again,
07:08 and doing it against PSG is a great thing.
07:11 Great feelings, shivers to the bone,
07:16 but the season in the Black and Reds still has to pay a heavy toll on the injuries.
07:21 After Milan-PSG, there's the transfer to Lecce,
07:23 which ends with the same 2-2 of Napoli,
07:25 and with the same two injuries.
07:28 Like at Maradona, even at the Via del Mare,
07:30 two important Milanistas stop in the first half.
07:32 Stop for injury, Davide Calabria.
07:34 Stop for injury, Rafael Leao.
07:36 And it's above all this second setback that worries the fans.
07:40 The whole club knows very well that after Lecce and the international break,
07:44 the Florentines are coming to San Siro,
07:47 but the road to Serie A is still very long,
07:50 and above all Borussia Dortmund, a decisive match in the Champions League.
07:53 And it's above all at San Siro, against the Black and Yellows of Westphalia,
07:56 that Milan will miss Leao.
07:59 To be honest, when approaching the challenge against the Germans,
08:02 there were feelings and predictions that were contrary.
08:04 At first it seemed that Rafa would be able to do it,
08:07 but then they took the lead, first the caution,
08:10 and then the clear feeling that Rafa wouldn't be there.
08:13 Milan went on the pitch with courage,
08:16 against Borussia Dortmund,
08:17 and the team immediately had the chance to score a penalty,
08:20 but Olivier Giroud couldn't turn it from the 11 metres,
08:23 and on the next action, from the wrong penalty of Milan,
08:26 the penalty was scored by the opponents.
08:28 They call them sliding doors.
08:30 Never a more true concept, never a more adherent situation
08:33 to what Milan experienced in San Siro that evening.
08:35 In the penultimate day of the Champions League round of 16,
08:38 Ciuquez scored, but got injured, Malik Chao.
08:41 And as against Juve, Malik's episode is the decisive one,
08:44 in a negative sense.
08:46 Against the Bianconeri, expulsion and victory of Juventus.
08:49 Against the Gialloneri, injury and victory of Borussia 3-1.
08:52 At that point, the Red-Black team had no choice but to get involved,
08:56 and that was important also in the home game against Frosinone,
08:59 to prepare for the tough away games of Bergamo and Newcastle,
09:02 which should serve to aim for the league table
09:05 and play the last chances of qualification in the Champions League in England.
09:09 Against the Frosinati, Milan won also thanks to the prudence of Luka Jovic
09:13 and Christian Polisic.
09:15 A free week, at that point, for the Red-Black team.
09:18 But in Bergamo, the unexpected happened,
09:20 on 2-2 at the 93rd minute,
09:22 with the game that seemed to be over,
09:25 Muriel scored, Atalanta won.
09:27 Another blur, another episode,
09:30 through the path of the Red-Black team.
09:32 Milan's march cuts the way,
09:34 which ends for a few hours off the road,
09:36 the group coached by Stefano Pioli manages to get back on track,
09:39 as always.
09:40 At Newcastle, you have to be serious,
09:42 at St James' Park, the owners of the house are perfectly on track for the qualification.
09:47 Milan starts the night of Newcastle
09:49 in last place in the Champions League death row,
09:52 and ends in third place.
09:53 Milan in a disadvantage, Milan out of all the European Cups,
09:56 but at a certain point, here's Polisic's goal,
09:58 and then, here's Ciuquese's goal.
10:00 Still the Nigerian, still the former Villarreal,
10:02 he had put the game against Borussia Dortmund in the lead,
10:05 he scores the goal of the Milan qualification
10:08 to the Europa League playoffs, which will start in 2024.
10:11 Commitments to which, since the post-match at Newcastle,
10:14 the club has given great importance,
10:17 with the words of Geoffrey Moncada.
10:19 We saw that this group has the right spirit,
10:22 we made good changes,
10:24 the coach has changed well,
10:26 the new players have arrived,
10:28 they did well right away.
10:30 This is a positive note,
10:31 we must think only positive,
10:33 we are in Europe, we have a good competition,
10:36 which is called the Europa League,
10:37 and we must do well, play well in this competition.
10:40 After the win at Newcastle, Milan beat Monza,
10:42 well, clearly, by a landslide, a spectacular game,
10:45 but it's not enough, here's the up and down.
10:47 In Salerno, in fact, what should have seemed like a transfer,
10:50 from the easy prediction for the Rossoneri,
10:52 turns into an involuntary game,
10:54 a game that twists against Milan,
10:56 who manages to draw only in the final,
10:58 two to two, many controversies.
11:00 Christmas is coming, but Milan must prepare and concentrate
11:02 for the home game against Sassuolo,
11:04 Ismael Ben Nasser's last,
11:06 before leaving for the Africa Cup.
11:08 And it is the Algerian national team
11:09 who will make the decisive assist
11:11 for Christian Polisic's decisive goal against the Black and Greens.
11:14 And so, Milan closes the sunny year 2023 well,
11:17 three points, one win, and the look facing the new year.
11:20 In 2024, Milan gets back in place,
11:22 the Rossoneri team manages to score
11:24 a series of positive results,
11:26 from January to March 2024,
11:28 Milan puts in the safe
11:29 the golden points necessary for the Champions League qualification.
11:32 The clean sheet on the Empoli pitch,
11:34 the home wins against Rome and Naples,
11:36 the successes at the Cardio Palma,
11:38 in the arenas, first Udine, then Frosinone,
11:40 transfers in which at the 70th minute
11:42 Milan was losing 2-1,
11:43 and which instead,
11:44 manages to win in the end,
11:46 3-2, with goals from Okafor and Jovic.
11:48 All good, the team is safe,
11:50 even Renna is safely eliminated,
11:52 and with many goals in the Europa League.
11:54 It is a different Milan, a new Milan,
11:56 with a new squad, consistency, continuity,
11:59 they always score many goals,
12:00 they also tend to take a series of nets,
12:02 but the pace is important.
12:04 The Rossoneri draw at home in the league
12:06 against Atalanta 1-1, against Bologna 2-2,
12:08 but against dominant opponents on the pitch,
12:10 and with Milan,
12:11 which would have deserved the win
12:13 against two of the best teams in the league,
12:15 who manage to draw only on episodes,
12:17 only on penalties.
12:19 Milan goes on,
12:21 with a high head,
12:22 despite the defeat of Monza for 4-2,
12:24 which also led to arbitrary episodes,
12:26 and despite the home win for 4-2
12:28 against Slavia Prague in the long 10,
12:30 it goes on.
12:31 It is a constant feeling of security
12:33 that the team transmits to the public,
12:35 to the fans and to the critics.
12:37 So much so that in Prague,
12:38 that Milan consumes one of its most spectacular
12:40 European nights,
12:41 at Eden Park,
12:42 the Slavia stadium.
12:43 The Rossoneri,
12:44 with a language property from the point of view of the game
12:46 and from the technical point of view,
12:48 win the qualification to the quarterfinals of the Europa League,
12:50 like a year earlier in the Champions League.
12:52 In the Europa League in 2024,
12:54 Milan enters among the best 8
12:56 of an important European competition
12:58 and with a satisfying roar of his goals
13:00 and the precision of his shots.
13:02 It's a play that I tried this week,
13:05 the shots,
13:07 I also personally think
13:09 that it is something that needs to be improved,
13:11 but today I am very happy to have scored this goal,
13:14 but the most important thing is the victory.
13:17 It is from Prague onwards that everything is decided.
13:19 A few days after the victory on the Slavia field,
13:21 Milan wins in Verona.
13:22 It was not an easy transfer.
13:24 The home team was in great recovery,
13:26 in great momentum,
13:27 in great confidence,
13:28 but Milan wins 3-1 with a happy and smiling group
13:30 that goes serene towards the international break
13:32 at the end of March.
13:34 It had already happened at the end of August
13:36 to go to an international break with a smile on your face
13:38 and then start again badly.
13:40 Instead, this does not happen at the end of March.
13:42 After the international break,
13:43 Milan wins two games out of two,
13:45 first in Florence and then at home against Lecce.
13:47 And it is precisely that of Florence,
13:48 one of the last real undertakings of the Rossoneri season,
13:50 in which we have seen a great Milan from the start.
13:53 As Alessandro Florenzi rightly points out,
13:55 to which the excellent performance of Samu Cukuez
13:57 was not absent.
13:59 Today he played an important game,
14:01 not only in terms of offense,
14:04 but also in terms of defense,
14:06 because anyway, sending Rafa to the center,
14:09 we were climbing a lot with Reinders on the left
14:11 and if he didn't give a hand, it was a problem.
14:14 So he played a very good game,
14:16 but we know what his qualities are.
14:18 We know what he can give to this team.
14:20 It is obvious that there are players
14:22 who need a day of adaptation
14:24 and other players who may need months of adaptation.
14:27 We hope that his time is over,
14:29 because we want to see this Samu.
14:31 It is a Milan that is always destined to reach the bottom,
14:34 to pull straight what from Florence
14:36 returns victorious in Pullman to Milan
14:38 after being imposed against a Fiorentina in good health.
14:40 The Rossoneri are re-evaluating their form,
14:42 beating Lecce 3-0 at San Siro.
14:44 But after that game on April 6,
14:46 with the Milan players who leave their fans happy
14:49 after saying goodbye to them under the curve,
14:51 no one could imagine that everything was over.
14:53 After that victory against Lecce,
14:55 Milan would no longer be able to be themselves.
14:57 And the two games against Rome in the quarterfinals of the Europa League
15:00 are the watershed of the season
15:02 and unfortunately not a positive watershed.
15:05 Milan, after 3-0 against Lecce, plays 9 official games,
15:08 7 in the league, 2 in the Europa League,
15:10 with a score of 1 win, 4 Paris and 4 defeats.
15:13 With 3 games finished 3-3,
15:15 Aregio Emilia against Sassuolo,
15:17 in the home against Genoa,
15:18 and in the home against Salernitana.
15:20 Milan, who closes the season in second place,
15:22 a brilliant place,
15:23 even if the Rossoneri fans suffer
15:25 the defeat in the return derby,
15:26 which meant the conquest of the tricolour
15:28 by the rivals, the Nerazzurri.
15:30 The team senses the climate
15:31 and focuses on the arithmetic qualification
15:33 to the Champions League
15:34 before the last four days of the season.
15:36 They gain access to the Final Four of the Italian Super Cup
15:39 when there are still 180 minutes left until the end of the tournament.
15:42 But the season ends with results
15:44 all in all disappointing,
15:45 even if the great Rossoneri spirit
15:47 returns to be the protagonist in San Siro
15:49 with the great, accurate, exciting, greetings
15:52 to Stefano Pioli, Olivier Giroud and Simon Kier.
15:55 An important season in the goal area,
15:57 thanks also to the summer market 2023.
15:59 There are not only the 15 goals and 13 assists
16:01 of Le Havre in official matches,
16:03 the 17 goals of Olivier Giroud,
16:04 but also the many goals and many assists
16:06 guaranteed by Pulisic, Reinders, Loftus,
16:09 Daucafort and Jovic.
16:10 See you next time, guys!
16:12 [Music]
16:18 [Music]