(Football news) Pioli has to wave farewell to San Siro, where the visitors will say farewell to the Italian top flight, two years after winning the title.
After Milan’s final away game of the 2023–24 season ended in a 3-1 loss to midtable Torino, the board has come to the conclusion that their head coach needs to be replaced in advance of what might be a hectic summer.
Although Stefano Pioli won the Scudetto in 2022 and led his club to the Champions League semifinals the previous year, his time is running out, and Paulo Fonseca is probably the man who will take his place in the stands.
With city rivals Inter Milan 19 points clear heading into the final day, and second place long since wrapped up, the Rossoneri have nothing other than pride to play for this weekend.
After previously winning five straight league games, Milan have faltered badly of late, posting just one success from their last six and conceding a hatful of goals in the process.
Nonetheless, Pioli can depart with his head held high, having beaten luminaries such as Arrigo Sacchi, Fabio Capello and Carlo Ancelotti to record the second-best win rate (59%) of any manager in the club’s long Serie A history.
Having lost only one of nine prior meetings with Salernitana in the top flight, Milan’s squad will now try to give their boss a fitting send-off by extending a club-record streak of six straight final-day wins, dating back to 2018.
While San Siro is one of Calcio’s great stages, it has proved an unpopular venue with this week’s visitors, as Salernitana are yet to win a Serie A fixture there – against either Milan or Inter – in nine previous attempts.
The Campanian club now sign off a chaotic campaign, surely hoping rather than expecting to taste victory in their last top-level match for at least one more year.
After ex-Milan striker Pippo Inzaghi was sacked in mid-season, the brief reign of Fabio Liverani was soon brought to an end, so current coach Stefano Colantuono will skipper the ship as it sinks down to Serie B.
In the spring of 2022, Salernitana secured 18 points from their last 15 matches to defy the drop in miraculous fashion, before edging towards survival again this time last year; however, their luck has now run out.
After Monday’s 2-1 home defeat to Hellas Verona, the Granata have lost 25 games and could ultimately finish as many as 21 points adrift of safety if they fail to take anything back down south from the second city.
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