According to *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, the futures of Luka Modric and Massimiliano Allegri hinge on whether the club qualifies for the Champions League.
Luka Modric, alongside ‘Max’ Allegri, at the moment he was substituted after suffering a cheekbone fracture.
EFE
ANTONIO BELLONI
Serie A.
After diagnosing the cheekbone fracture sustained in a brutal collision with Manuel Locatelli, every Milan fan had the same thought: Was that Milan-Juventus match Luka Modric’s last game at San Siro?
It would be an injustice. The love story between Modric and Milan, which began long before this season—when the Croatian was just a child chasing a ball in his backyard amid the Balkan war—deserves a far different ending. Not one as gray and soulless as that Milan-Juve clash.
Ancelotti: “Luka Modric is one of the best players I’ve ever coached.”
Yet the risk is real. On Sunday afternoon, Max Allegri’s Milan took the field without their compass, Modric. Like a child on their first solo outing without parents, they looked lost and disconnected. A harsh 2-0 defeat, playing with ten men, which Allegri called “the worst performance of the season.”
But the problems run much deeper. After an outstanding first half of the campaign, clinging to the dream of challenging Inter for the Scudetto, Milan has deflated. Similar to Allegri’s Juventus in the 2023-24 season, when after that Inter-Juve match, they managed just 14 points in 13 games.
Rakitic: “I’m sure Madrid’s coach would be delighted to have Modric.”
Since the derby win sealed by Estupiñán’s goal, the Rossoneri—after squandering the chance to close within five points in Rome against Lazio—seem to have taken their foot off the gas: just seven points in the last seven matches. Four defeats in the last seven. A resounding, almost incomprehensible collapse. As if, having lost the epic chase for the title, the team has thrown in the towel. And when motivation fades, the fragility of the tactical framework comes to light.
Milan today is absent: they neither defend nor attack. They no longer have the solidity from the start of the season, and they are dragging a major problem: scoring. The offensive numbers are devastating: only 16 goals in 16 second-half matchdays.
“The demons take hold of me when I see Modric holding up Milan.”
Radio MARCA
But there’s more. In the last five games, just one goal—unprecedented since the club has competed in domestic tournaments.
The debate rages. Some point to Massimiliano Allegri’s overly defensive and speculative approach; others, in defense of the Tuscan coach, recall the injury plague and problems up front: the enigmatic signing of Nkunku (€40 million paid to Chelsea), the ongoing setbacks for Leão and Pulisic, Santi Giménez’s serious injury (five months out), and Füllkrug’s precarious condition since arriving in January.
Milan’s forwards haven’t scored in two months: the last goal came from Leão, in the Cremonese-Milan match on March 1st. And truth be told, they aren’t creating much either: against Sassuolo, the first shot on target came in stoppage time—a harmless free kick from Christian Pulisic.
Modric scores his first goal for AC Milan at age 40.
Now, Luka Modric is back at Milanello, eight days after his surgery. He will be with the group in this decisive stretch of the season, aiming for a record recovery to be ready for the Milan-Cagliari match on the final matchday. Meanwhile, Milan walks a tightrope: just three games left.