Luka Jovic and Sergio Conceicao appeared destined to leave AC Milan at the end of the season, and now they are leading the final attempt at Europe.
As Quotidiano Sportivo report, while Giorgio Furlani was meeting with Igli Tare to outline the Milan of the future, Conceicao’s tactics and Jovic’s brace helped the current Rossoneri reach another final. It is symbolic of a rollercoaster season, one that has not been short of confusion.
On the field, a gulf has opened up. Milan are nine points off the Champions League places, and in the fourteen games against the teams above them, only one victory: against Inter in the Fonseca era. The Nerazzurri won six derbies in a row in the Stefano Pioli era, now they could provide a turning point.
Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Inter had another sub-plot. Jovic scored a match-winning brace while Mehdi Taremi really struggled, and the Serbian was signed two summers ago right at the deadline after the Rossoneri failed to sign the Iranian.
Jovic’s parable is extraordinary: he went from earning a renewal and the No.9 shirt to exclusion from the Champions League squad list, little more than an hour of playing time in seven months and what seemed like a certain January exit.
That was the past, the present says four goals in his last five games. Conceicao seems to be a fan of using him as the striker in the new 3-4-3 system, an intuition he hopes could provide a big season finale and urge the club to reconsider his sealed fate.
Times change as do moods, and the Portuguese continues to chase the (definitive) balance between quality and humility seen on Wednesday. And two trophies in a few months. He received Moncada’s ‘we’re happy’, but read about Conte and Allegri, Italiano and De Zerbi, Sarri and Gasperini links.
There is a clause in Conceicao’s contract that could still mean goodbye in June. Furlani, now, is mainly working on another contract: that of the sporting director. Another meeting with Tare is on the agenda, already at the table two months ago in London with Cardinale, while Sergio works and hopes.
