‘A diary with too many pages to burn’ – Pellegatti offers reflection on Milan’s season so far | OneFootball

Carlo Pellagatti has given his thoughts on AC Milan’s campaign to this points, and it would be fair to say that he would not dish out a positive grade.

Milan are in Zagreb tonight hoping to tick off another objective after the Supercoppa Italiana triumph in Saudi Arabia: qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League directly, by finishing inside the top eight spots.

However, the form in Europe (five wins in a row) has been offset by struggles in Serie A. There have already been several sagas too, from the cooling break in Rome to the penalty mutiny in Florence, and most recently the Calabria-Conceicao spat after the Parma win.

Pellegatti has published his weekly column for MilanNews from Croatia, and he spoke about the current moment the team find themselves in amid a crazy season already. The first bit of the title reads: ‘A diary with too many pages to burn. Minus one: the cover’.

“I am writing these lines in the press room of the Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb. Tension and emotion on the eve of a big Champions League match,” he began.

“A match that will have important repercussions on the league campaign, because Milan, in the event of a victory or even a draw, but tied to other results, could have a second part of February only occupied by the commitments against Verona, Torino and Lazio, before returning to the cup.

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“But which Milan will be the one on Croatian soil? Understanding the technical and mental moods of the Rossoneri seems like a titanic undertaking, even for those who have guided them in recent months and who are training them today.

“Unfortunately in the league season the metaphor of the Easter Egg is always current. Milan takes the field, open the foil, break the chocolate egg and you can find both a Tiffany jewel and a plastic soldier.

“But not in Europe, where the ‘cup egg’ has given away magnificent jewels. A diamond from Rawalpindi that shone in the Madrid night. Then four diamonds, maybe not 24 carats, but 18 carats yes!

“The victories over Bruges, then against Slovan Bratislava, Red Star and Girona were precious too. To complete the splendid necklace now lacks the victory in Zagreb, which would be the apotheosis of a beautiful feat by Grande Milan. Six victories in the last six games.

“To forget also so many turbulent weeks, full of episodes that I do not remember in the history of the Rossoneri. A diary of ugly pages that I hope will soon be burned.

“The last, among the most bitter and painful, that of last Sunday when I saw two… Rossoneri brothers arguing vulgarly in the center of the San Siro pitch. On those tufts of grass that accompanied the feats of the most famous Champions! Very, very sad!

“I hope that only the first page of that diary will remain, the one coloured by the photo of happy boys with a cup raised towards the sky. Waiting to write, this season, more fun and spectacular ones, maybe with Kyle Walker, a new great Champion.

“Let’s close with a mention of the January market. By now we are used to long, very long negotiations, which always start with offers often not even taken into consideration by other clubs. Milan, I insist, would need a midfielder as an alternative to Fofana because the squad, it’s true, has many good midfielders, but none with the characteristics of the Frenchman.

“Regarding the centre-forward we are now at a wall against a wall. Feyenoord, who do not want to sell Santiago Gimenez, would change their mind only with an offer close to €50m. Milan started with €20m plus €7m in bonuses.

“So here comes another negotiation that quickly turned into yet another exhausting torment, which makes ‘Sentieri’, a soap opera that began in 1937 and ended in 2009, look like a video clip directed by John Landis.”