AC Milan ended its disappointing season with a 2-0 victory against Monza on Saturday, but the match was overshadowed by fans’ demonstrations against club property and the hierarchy before and during the match.
Matteo Gabbia scored with a head in the second half at San Siro, then João Félix converted a free kick while Milan went to seventh place.
Earlier, thousands of fans protested in front of the club’s headquarters above Milan who did not qualify for Europe and lost against Bologna in the Italian Cup final.
There were more protests inside the San Siro and the songs targeting the American owner of Milan, Gerry Cardinale.
“Cardinale, you have to sell. Go out,” said the fans.
Milan started the season as a potential title candidate, but ended up 19 points behind the Napoli champion.
The supporters had clarified their feelings from the start of the campaign, dissatisfied with the selection of Paulo Fonseca as a manager, and the Portuguese coach was replaced by the compatriot Sérgio Conceição in December.
Milan was eight years old at the table at the time, and although Conceição won the Super Cup in his first game in charge, there was little improvement in Serie A and they left the Champions League in the league phase.
With the chief of Redbird Cardinale, the club president, Paolo Scaroni, CEO Giorgio Furlani, the main advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the technical director Geoffrey Moncada were all targets of the anger of the supporters during the protest on Saturday.
Fans also called the return of their hero Paolo Maldini to the club, after the former Milan defender was dismissed from his role as technical director in 2023, another decision that set the relationship between supporters and owners.
After walking towards the San Siro, the South Curva fans positioned themselves to spell “to go home” in a clear message to their American owner, and most of them left the sector in a raising organized 15 minutes from the game.
“Among our fans, there is disappointment, regret, anger and frustration, these are all feelings that we also feel. Do not think that is not the case,” Club Furlani told Dazn before the match.
“The season ends today and next week, we are starting again.”
Decisions will now be made regarding the future of Conceição at the club, but fans will expect radical changes to Milan if they want to see a return to the days of glory.
Meanwhile, its city rival, Inter Milan, will play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final next Saturday, adding an insult to an campaign that was not well below expectations.
The information from Reuters and the Associated Press was used in this story.
