Milan Must Avoid Blame Game As Champions League Quest Continues

AC Milan's 3-2 home defeat against Atalanta leaves the Champions League chase finely balanced, with Massimiliano Allegri urging focus rather than blame. Milan stay in Serie A's top four only thanks to a better head-to-head record than Roma, while the coach accepts responsibility and targets a swift reaction.

Atalanta built a 3-0 advantage by the 51st minute through Ederson, Davide Zappacosta and Giacomo Raspadori, punishing Milan's defensive lapses. Strahinja Pavlovic struck in the 88th minute and Christopher Nkunku converted a stoppage-time penalty, yet the late push did not prevent a third straight league game without victory at San Siro.

The Opta supercomputer now gives Milan a 60.7% probability of securing Champions League qualification, underlining how important every remaining fixture looks. Despite the damaging loss, Allegri backed the squad's effort while accepting the main share of responsibility and stressing that two more wins should still be enough to reach the season's target.

"When results are lacking, I am the first person responsible, as I am the coach, Allegri toldDAZN,as quoted by Football Italia. These lads have always given their all, we mustn't go looking for blame right now, but focus on how we achieved many victories this season and need to get two more. I said repeatedly that the Champions League spot was not locked down, despite what everyone else claimed, because I knew we hadn't had a dip yet. The dip has arrived, now we'vegot to finish it off."

This setback continues a worrying pattern at San Siro, where Milan are now winless in three straight league matches for the first time since the spell between December 2024 and January 2025. On that earlier run, draws under Paulo Fonseca and Sergio Conceicao halted momentum, and current form raises similar questions.

Milan have also recorded at least two home defeats with three or more goals conceded in a single Serie A campaign for only the fifth time since the three-points-for-win system began in 1994-95. The historical comparison highlights defensive fragility at a key stage of the Champions League chase.

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Across those seasons, the current campaign sits alongside 1996-97 and 2006-07, which each featured two such losses, as well as 2015-16 with two and 2020-21 with three. That context underlines how unusual this level of home vulnerability is for Milan while competing for Champions League places.

Champions League hopes, missed chances and Genoa test

Despite the scoreline, Milan created enough opportunities to take something from the game. Santiago Gimenez, Rafael Leao and Alexis Saelemaekers all saw efforts saved by visiting goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi during the first half. Milan ended with 20 shots and an expected goals value of 1.94, compared with Atalanta's nine attempts and 1.08 xG.

"There's no point talking about what has happened so far, because we cannot change it,Allegri added. All we can do is work well over the next week and be ready for a game against Genoa that will be decisive for our Champions League qualification. Tonight had started fairly well for 10 minutes, then we conceded that goal at the first chance, after which we fell apart. In the second half, once we had gone 3-0 down, there was a strong reaction. At least we got back to scoring goals. I realise it might seem an odd thing to say, but that's a good sign."

Allegri pointed to that late rally, including Pavlovic's header and Nkunku's penalty, as evidence the squad still responds under pressure. With Genoa next on the schedule, Milan enter a decisive phase where performance and concentration at San Siro must improve if the Champions League objective is to be met.