AC Milan’s early elimination from the Champions League has left just one major objective to fight for this season, before some big judgements follow.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, the idea behind the five signings in the winter window was to provide a boost to the squad’s ability to compete across multiple fronts including Europe. Instead, not long after the excitement of deadline day came the jeers at full-time in Milan-Feyenoord.
San Siro was a stadium in shock, unable even to even jeer that loudly because of how surreal the elimination was, one that actually began in Zagreb, continued in Rotterdam and was completed on Tuesday night.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, RedBird Capital and Gerry Cardinale are silent, but they are observing carefully. The club have said goodbye to about €20m in revenues and it is an unpleasant blow to the international prestige of the club, which Cardinale holds dear.
The reason is simple: Cardinale aims to grow the commercial side of the club especially in front of the American audience, with the New York Yankees partnership being the most illustrious example. To do so, he obviously needs support in sporting terms, i.e. with positive results.
From this perspective, a team that loses their spot in the biggest club competition by failing against Dinamo Zagreb and Feyenoord is an own-goal, even if the global charm of the Devil always remains immense. Prestige and money, at these levels, go hand in hand after all.
