AC Milan fall to Rijeka in turgid defeat

AC Milan went into their final Europa League game with both nothing, and everything, to prove. The Rossoneri had already qualified, but after a number of bad games - a win was still meaningful in many ways. That win? We will still be waiting for it and if you’re worried about Gennaro Gattuso’s blood pressure, you should probably keep your worries up. Especially after this one.

With a number of rotational moves, there was still a lot of expectation on Gattuso’s side. The fears would set in early on, though, after Jakov Puljic put Rijeka ahead with a special effort from a dead ball situation.

Milan couldn’t match their Croatian counterparts, with Cutrone and Biglia missing a number of chances apiece. Things fell apart further when Rijeka’s Mario Gavranovic reinforced Rijeka’s lead, by making it two goals to nothing.

Was there anything to play for? Some will argue no - but the right answer to that must always be yes. It was a competitive fixture and the future does not bold well for this current iteration of Milan, suffering a hangover that even the firey Gattuso seemingly can’t lure them out of.

What more is there to say at this point? Call us doubters, haters and naysayers, but this reeks of a toxic organisation from head to toe and instability off the pitch? It’s building a platform for failure on the pitch.