#ac-milan

#ac-milan

The year of 2025 is in the books, and it was certainly a tale of two halves for AC Milan, though there were plenty of memorable moments. The second half of the 2024-25 campaign was a painful one in which the Rossoneri finished eighth in the table and lost in the Coppa Italia final, though the year did start well with the Supercoppa Italiana triumph in Riyadh.

The former CEO spent 31 years at the club and is greatly appreciated by the fans, while few have his knowledge of Italian football. Matteo Moretto is among the sources that claimed Galliani's Milan comeback is only a matter of time. The journalist spoke of a verbal pact being in place with Gerry Cardinale - the owner of Milan - and that things would get moving when Monza's sale was complete.

The documents with Milan still need to be signed. Milan were in advanced negotiations, had effectively blocked Arizala, but the boy's path still needed to be defined and 100% structured,

When Fonseca was sacked, and even in the months that followed, Milan were a mess. There were problems everywhere, and it was a massively toxic environment. Issues from the summer continued into January, and the 2024/25 season was one to forget. Then, Massimiliano Allegri arrived and since then, he has fixed a lot, but exactly how much has changed. A look back at the year As MilanNews writes, the Fonseca chapter was one of the 'most depressing chapters' in the club's recent history.

"Rayan's name has emerged as a potential target for AC Milan in the January mercato. However, a deal will not be easy. In fact, reports suggest that he has an €80m buy clause in his contract, but that could be lessened with Vasco's need for finances. Speaking about the striker, who to many will be an unknown prospect, Cafu offered some information to Tuttosport and Calciomercato.com have relayed the legend's words."

AC Milan certainly need some defensive reinforcement, and Adam Marusic could be a handy option, indeed. In fact, the deal makes a lot of sense. It is nothing new for managers or sporting directors to look at players they already know. Massimiliano Allegri has done so already - look at Adrien Rabiot and Koni De Winter - and is continuing to do so.

Before the January mercato, it has been made apparent that AC Milan will not be working with a big budget. Now, that has only been confirmed further. It seems that the initial estimations about the budget for January were almost spot on. The prediction was that there would be money for a few moves, but they would have to be low-cost opportunities, and now, this has been confirmed.

AC Milan's season has been paradoxical so far, with the points per game average being much higher against the teams closer to the top. Looking down the Serie A table, Inter have picked up 25% of the points available against other teams in the top five. Against teams from sixth to 10th, they are at 75%, while they have picked up every single point on offer against sides in the bottom half of the table.

The numbers show that AC Milan are clinical when it comes to taking the first opportunity that presents itself in games. Milan have made a habit of scoring from their first shot on target this season, Sky (via MilanPress) point out. This was shown yesterday when Christian Pulisic scored with the first shot on target of the match (in the 46th minute of the first half).

It's a very important match, the first after the Supercoppa defeat. We want to do everything we can to win. We know that Verona are a good team that use counter-attacks a lot. We need to be careful in defence and win duels.

AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri has named his final starting line-up of 2025, with come changes compared to the Supercoppa Italiana. In his pre-match press conference, Allegri revealed that Rafael Leao will be out of the game because he is still feeling a bit of discomfort, having not played since the 3-2 comeback win over Torino earlier in the month. He also confirmed that Matteo Gabbia will not make it back as he continues to recover from the hyper-extended knee that he sustained during the draw with Sassuolo.

This weekend, Massimiliano Allegri will not have many changes available to him when his AC Milan side take on Hellas Verona. The loss against Napoli a week ago has certainly not had a major effect on anyone. After all, it has given Allegri a chance to rest his team for another week, allowing them all the chance to take a break from a busy December schedule.