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It was a strange Tuesday night for Milanisti all over the world, despite AC Milan being out of any European competition this year because Carlos Bacca was spotted on Sevilla's bus and then on their bench before and during the match against Juventus at Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.
Carlos Bacca is in Spain to support his former team against Juve in the @ChampionsLeague tonight. #acmilan pic.twitter.com/7O3Ytvfoth
— Milan Stuff (@TheMilanBible) December 8, 2015
Italian press have been on fire since they saw him leading his former team out of the bus before the game speculating about his presence at Sevilla's stadium on Tuesday night.
"Una cosa che al Milan quindici anni fa non sarebbe mai successa, non gli sarebbe mai venuto in mente. Uno può fare ciò che vuole, ma quando il Milan l'ha preso, ha preso anche la sua immagine. Anche perché poi è facile ci sia strumentalizzazione. A livello di comunicazione il Milan è sempre stato 20 anni davanti agli altri, ora fa un po' fatica perchè c'è una certa confusione all'interno, di certe cose perdi un po' il filo. Bacca te lo devi coccolare, ma Bergomi è dalla prima giornata che dice che Luiz Adriano e Bacca non lo convincono. Questo è un giocatore che ha bisogno di una squadra che si muova per lui. Domenica Mihajlovic l'ho visto molto triste, molto giù, stava per dire delle cose che poi ha preferito non dire e solo accennare, questo episodio di Bacca è una piccola cosa che si inserisce in un contesto genereale"
- Fabio Caressa, Sky Sport Italia's reporter
That's definitely worth translation:
"It's something it would have never happened at Milan 15 years ago, he [Bacca] would have never thought to do it. He can do whatever he wants, but when he had been acquired by Milan, they acquired his image rights too. Also because it's easy to speculate about it. From the communication standpoint Milan have always been 20 years ahead other clubs, but now they're struggling because there's confusion in their management team. You should take care of Bacca, but Bergomi [another Sky Sport Italia reporter] has been doubtful about him and Luiz Adriano since Round 1. He's a player that needs to play in a team that works for him. Sunday, I noticed Mihajlović was sad, really sad, he [Mihajlović] was going to tell things he preferred not to say or briefly touch, this episode about Bacca is a small thing that's part of a bigger context."
There's no reason Milanisti should worry about this. Bacca was just there supporting his former teammates during a key game for them – and it seems it worked since they defeated Juventus. Nobody at Sevilla forgot they won back-to-back Europa League's titles with him at forward or that he put up big numbers (59 goals and 22 assists) during his time in Spain. Bacca did not forget all these great moments, either.
This kind of things happens at Milan, too. Thiago Silva was spotted several times at the San Siro, despite being a PSG player, and even Mario Balotelli did it when he was at Liverpool.
There is nothing to worry about.
And Milan should focus on continuing its race to a European spot, as Bacca stated after the match Tuesday night:
Carlos Bacca thinks Milan can make @EuropaLeague, but says "we have to play better." #acmilan pic.twitter.com/Uz7IO1DUl2
— Milan Stuff (@TheMilanBible) December 8, 2015
Even Siniša Mihajlović seems not to care about what happened and will keep him in the starting lineup in a new offensive trio together with Luiz Adriano and M'baye Niang.