Milan eyeing Europa League glory amidst uncertainty over Pioli’s future
As the seven-time European champions get ready for Thursday's opening leg of their Europa League quarterfinal against Roma, Stefano Pioli's future at AC Milan is in doubt.
The last eight Italian derby will be the most important two games of Milan's season thus far. The team was never in the running for the Serie A championship and was eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage.
In addition, Pioli's chances of remaining in the Milan dugout will depend on them greatly because, since the turbulent beginning of his tenure in 2019, the 58-year-old has faced more criticism than at any other time.
As the season resumed in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Pioli was supposed to be replaced by Ralf Rangnick in the summer of 2020. However, a sudden burst of hot form and very public outrage from directors Zvonimir Boban and Paolo Maldini about how the talks with Rangnick were handled kept him in the role.
Keeping Pioli proved to be a wise decision as he helped Milan win the Serie A title two years later. However, Pioli's failure to compete for Inter this season or Napoli previous season has cost him support from the Milanese supporters.
Not helping has been a run of five straight Milan derby losses, nor has the possibility of formally handing over this year's Scudetto to Inter in the upcoming match with their local rivals later this month.
The perception that Milan has been surpassed by Inter on the continent since Pioli brought them back to the top table after years of decline only serves to exacerbate the issue.
However, Milan would have even more reason to celebrate the last few weeks of a mainly disappointing season if they made a deep run in the Europa League, a competition they have never won, either in its current form or as the former UEFA Cup.
With the aid of a startling decline in Juventus' performance, Milan has won seven straight games across all competitions, advancing them to the round of eight and probably placing them second in Serie A.
Following Saturday's 3-0 victory over Lecce, Pioli remarked, "We've never stopped believing in what we do, we've never stopped believing in the players, and they haven't stopped believing in us."
"A team knows when it has made it through the difficult period when it has struggled for a long time without giving up."
De Rossi in a good mood
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the England international who was suspended for the weekend's romp past lowly Lecce, will be back for Pioli.
Loftus-Cheek, who plays advanced midfield, has been on fire in 2024, scoring nine goals since the start of the season.
Four of the goals came from Milan's convincing wins over Rennes and Slavia Prague in their prior Europa League quarterfinal matches.
With Fikayo Tomori suspended, Pioli must make a crucial decision regarding who will play in central defence with Matteo Gabbia. Simon Kjaer is the clear favourite over Malick Thiaw, who is making a comeback from injury.
Although Milan defeated Roma handily twice earlier this season, that victories came under Jose Mourinho's tenure, and this time around, the capital club was expected to be quite different.
Daniele De Rossi, Pioli's counterpart from Roma, is optimistic going into Thursday's game at the San Siro after his team's victory in the Rome derby over the weekend kept them in the running for the Champions League.
The trip up north will demonstrate how much Roma has truly changed under De Rossi, because it was Mourinho who was ousted from the team following their most recent away loss to Milan in January.
Since then, Roma has only dropped two of their last fifteen games—one against Inter, the incoming champions, and the other against Brighton in the previous round of the Europa League, which ended with the English team winning the first leg of their last-16 match.
Although De Rossi's contract is only valid until the end of the current campaign, there is so much optimism at Roma under their former captain that a strong performance in this match could secure De Rossi a permanent position.