Costacurta insists Milan Champions League exit is ‘not Conceicao’s fault’ | OneFootball

Legendary former Milan defender Alessandro Costacurta believes that the blame for the team’s exit from the Champions League should not lie with head coach Sergio Conceicao, rather the players and largely Theo Hernandez, who he feels is having the ‘worst’ year of his career.

Milan were eliminated from the Champions League in the play-off round after a 1-1 draw with an injury-hit and relatively inexperienced Feyenoord side, which sealed a 2-1 loss on aggregate.

The Rossoneri had led in the first minute after former Feyenoord striker Santiago Gimenez opened the scoring in the second leg, but holding onto the lead became difficult when Theo Hernandez was given his marching orders early in the second half.

The Frenchman was shown a yellow card for an unnecessarily aggressive shirt pull on Anis Anis Hadj-Moussa in the first half, and was then given his second booking for simulation.

Costacurta feels that Theo has a lot of questions to ask of himself.

MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 18: Theo Hernandez of AC Milan leaves the pitch after receiving a red card for diving during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between AC Milan and Feyenoord at San Siro Stadium on February 18, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Costacurta: ‘It’s not Conceicao’s fault, the mistakes were made by Milan players’

“I haven’t seen that many mistakes in a double knockout game for a long time,” Costacurta said while on punditry duty with Sky, reported via Corriere dello Sport.

Alessandro Costacurta Commissioner of FIGC looks on before the International Friendly match between Italy U21 and Belgium U21 at Friuli Stadium on October 11, 2018 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

“Certain blunders like those Theo made can’t happen at this level, it’s not acceptable. This year is perhaps the worst of his career and what he did tonight was the icing on the cake for Milan.”

He continued: “It’s not unreasonable to say that the blame for Milan’s elimination from the Champions League falls on Theo Hernandez. It’s not Conceicao’s fault, who, in my opinion, didn’t make a mistake in his team selection. The mistakes were made by the players, and they made serious ones in every game.”