Napoli kept their position at the top of the table following a sixth consecutive victory in the league.

The 5-1 success over Empoli was very important considering that Juventus had also managed a win from their match. The difference between the two teams is only two points at the top of the table. Napoli are the unlikely candidate for the league title whereas Juventus remain the strong favourites after having won the title for the past four seasons. Maurizio Sarri has masterminded the title challenge from the underdogs and he believes that there is no pressure from Juventus.

Despite having been top of the table for much of the season,Sarri has identified a few key positions where the team has been lacking when comparison with the other title rivals. He says that Napoli solidarity in defence should be improved compared to Juventus, who have been looking faultless in this position. Even when considering the poor start to the season, Juventus have conceded less than one goal per game. They have let in 15 goals in the 22 league matches whereas Napoli have conceded four more during this period. Sarri’s team, though, have fared better when it comes to scoring goals with striker Gonzalo Higuain contributing a major chunk.

“It’s right that the San Paolo expects a victory, as they help us to get over difficult situations, but the problem was trying to overcome an excellent Empoli side.We are happy with the performance, with how the team emerged from the situation and we didn’t feel any pressure from the Juventus result. Juve are having their own campaign, we just happen to be nearby. We are aiming to go forward and if we look too far towards the horizon then our chances of doing well diminish,” said the Napoli manager.

AC Milan have faced so many problems over the last five years that former coach Carlo Ancelotti believes that it will be tough for the team to think about immediate success even after the appointment of SinisaMihajlovic.

A number of coaches have come and gone in recent times, but they have been unable to get the club even back into the top four. Milan have been slowly slipping down the table. There has been some improvement under the new manager, but they still remain a long way away from reclaiming titles. Ancelotti won the league title with Milan and he also led the club to Champions League success.

The former Milan manager has been out of work recently amidst speculation that he would once again take over at the San Siro. However, it now looks like an improbable proposition given that Ancelotti has been experiencing huge successes over the last five years. He is unlikely to take over at a club that is struggling to hit its glory days due to a combination of factors. Milan have cut their investments significantly under Silvio Berlusconi amidst rumours about an ownership change. It remains to be seen if this will be the impetus that the club needs to get back to the former level.

“Mihajlovic is a good choice. He has character, ability and knowledge to bring to the Rossoneri, but to achieve things at the top level, then ideas are not enough. Milan also need investment and revenue. I was very close to re-joining after considerable pressure by Galliani, but I felt comfortable and my will prevailed so I reluctantly said no,” said Ancelotti. Milan have suffered only one defeat in the last five matches, but they have still fallen to eighth in the table following the recent 0-0 draw with Carpi.

Sinisa Mihajlovic is the 4th manager that has taken over Ac.Milan since January of 2014. Mauro Tassotti, Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi were all of the former managers of the Italian club that had to be removed from their managerial position after a disappointing season.

Mauro Tassotti was the only one who wasn’t sacked as he only served as an interim manager and still has a close relationship with Ac.Milan as he is working as a talent scout for the Italian outfit.

Sinisa Mihajlovic is the new manager who was selected to guide Ac.Milan through the 2015-16 season and the Serbian tactician has a colossal task lying ahead of him.

For the past few years, Ac.Milan has been struggling in different departments of the squad as they have shown to be a squad that has more weaknesses than fortitudes but Sinisa Mihajlovic somehow has to overcome the recent struggles of Ac.Milan and put them in the top 5 spots of the Serie A as this is what Silvio Berlusconi wants to see happen with his club but it’s easier said than done.

Ever since Thiago Silva was sold to Paris Saint-Germain on July of 2012, Ac.Milan hasn’t been able to find a solid defender and this is evident by the fact that Ac.Milan conceded 50 goals in the previous season. During the seasons when Silva was performing with the Italian club, the maximum amount of conceded goals was 39.

When Paris Saint-Germain snatched Thiago Silva in 2012, the French club also signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Ac.Milan and they haven’t been able to find someone who can fill in the boots of Ibrahimovic.

The summer transfer window opened up over 2 weeks ago and this gives the chance for Ac.Milan to sign a few players that can replace the gap that was left by Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic but Ac.Milan isn’t expected to splash out a lot of cash in this summer as the club is going through a change in ownership with the Thai businessman Bee Taechaubol having a big interest in buying at least 51% of the club and having a controlling stake but until these negotiations aren’t done, not much cash is expected to be thrown out on signings new players.

AC Milan have been given the green light towards building a new stadium that will see them on the path towards self-sufficiency.

The club has been sharing its San Siro ground with arch rivals Inter Milan for several years, but even this ground does not belong to the club. Instead, it belongs to the city and hence there are no income and revenue to be had from this massive stadium. San Siro has a capacity of more than 80,000 fans. Now, Milan will be moving to a much smaller ground, but one that could get them around £ 50 million per year according to Barbara Berlusconi.

The daughter of president Silvio Berlusconi says that this is a massive step towards self-sufficiency and one that could see Milan once again fighting for the top players in the world. It has been several years since the club signed a real world class player. But it has been largely been down to the lack of funds provided by Berlusconi, who has been caught up in his own private battle. Instead of holding about 80,000 people like the San Siro, the new stadium is expected to have only around 48,000 seats. Still, this would fetch enough income for Milan according to Barbara.

“Today, with the decision of the Fondazione Fiera, we can officially begin the journey towards our new stadium. It is the first step, as we still need to present the entire project to the institutions for approval.This is still an historic day. Ours is foremost a cultural challenge. It is for Milan that we are proposing an urban stadium, to favour the development of the area that will play host to us, to make it more secure and a symbol for the city, to completely change the mentality of those who come to the stadium by providing services and entertainment that go beyond the 90 minutes of the game,” said Barbara.

Sevilla coach Unai Emery has not dismissed the rumours linking him with the vacant managerial job at AC Milan. The Italian outfit are looking for a new manager after deciding to part company with Filippo Inzaghi just 12 months into his job.

Inzaghi was appointed as the replacement for Clarence Seedorf, but the former Milan striker did not do a great job and the club could only finish in a disappointing 10th spot. Milan are expected to substantially improve squad during the summer with investments finally coming from owner Silvio Berlusconi. A significant part of the budget will be located towards getting managerEmery from Sevilla.

The former Valencia coach has enjoyed two successful years at the Spanish club and he is regarded as one of the top managers in the world now.Emery has the opportunity to win the Europa League title back-to-back with Sevilla. A victory this year will be much more crucial given that it would give them direct access to the group stages of the Champions League. Hence, it remains to be seen ifEmery will leave the opportunity to compete in the Champions League for a club that has no European football in the time being.Emery failed to discuss about the transfer rumours and instead want to concentrate on the final againstDnipro.

“It is very clear in my mind. My heart is 100% Sevilla at the moment and I can’t look beyond that right now. I want to make myself and Sevilla fans happy tomorrow.I feel very grateful. We are working together. That is thanks to Sevilla and thanks to this football club. So my gratitude goes to the club, who have created this opportunity.Over two years we have progressed a lot. We have three players who have just been called up to the national squad having only recently come through the cantera and that is thanks to the work of the group,” said Emery.

Massimiliano Allegri was the last coach that managed to lift the Serie A title with Ac.Milan and this accomplishment was achieved back on May of 2011 which was when Ac.Milan won the 2010-11 season of the Italian League and were crowned as the champions of Italy but ever since then things have begun to fall apart for them as the team has switched managers on a number of occasions and still continue to underperform.

The current struggle that Ac.Milan is going through is very clear as the Italian outfit is even having discussions with investors and businessman in order to change ownership of the club.

Despite all of the things that the Italian side has been experiencing, this has not stopped GennaroGattuso in stating that he would like to be in charge of Ac.Milan someday.

The former Ac.Milan player GennaroGattuso said: “I left Milan because, after 14 years it was the right time to leave. One day I hope to train them, because it is a club close to my heart. However, I know that there is a long road to get to that position. This is a dark time, but we must not forget that for 25 years the Berlusconi family has made many great sacrifices for the club and achieved great victories.”

Gattuso spent over 10 years performing for Ac.Milan where he managed to win major titles such as: Serie A on 2 occasions and the Champions League twice as well. When he decided to hang up his boots and retire, the Italian midfielder decided to start a coaching career and decided to take charge of Sion on February of 2013 but he was sacked after only 3 months.

The coaching career of Gattuso continued on when he was named as the manager of Palermo but he suffered the same fate as he was sacked in less than a year after coaching the team

Gattuso is currently not the manager of any team but he voiced his desire in returning to Ac.Milan as a coach instead of a player and taking into consideration that Ac.Milan has been giving their older performers with the chance to coach the team, it’s not so far-fetched to believe that someday Gattuso might actually fulfill his dream.

You have to be an eternal optimist to be able to take positives out of a very poor performance.

And, Filippo Inzaghi definitely seems to be one that sort of a person.

The man just does not lose heart. He does not look beaten no matter what.

AC Milan’s outing versus Chievo was not their first disappointing show in the season. There have been plenty of those over the summer and in the early parts of the winter too.

Any manager at Inzaghi’s place would have got a bit ruffled and would have tried to find excuses, but, the 41-year old has been graceful till this point of time.

Again while speaking to the media after that Chievo Game; he tried to pick out the good things about his team rather than pinpointing someone for the undesired scoreless draw.

Chievo was actually an opponent which the Rossoneri were backed to defeat and they would have been confident enough themselves to do that despite the fact that they were playing away.

And, they created opportunities. It’s not that the opposition outplayed them. But, as has been the case so many times in the recent past, they just found ways of ruing those opportunities.

When Inzaghi was asked about his take on the Chievo result, he said, “Being an optimist, I always see the positives and one of the positives in this game was that our defence was good and it’s two games in a row now that we have not conceded a goal. So, that’s something that I am glad about, but, of course, when you don’t take your opportunities, it hurts you as you are playing against good teams at this level.”

Milan is standing mid way in the Italian top flight table. They will face Verona in their next game on 7th of March.

Ac.Milan just barely managed to defeat Sassuolo in their Coppa Italia match as the scoreboard displayed 2-1 which was just enough for Filippo Inzaghi and his players to book their spot into the next rounds of the Italian competition.
Lazio also was able to win their Coppa Italia match which was against Torino and now Lazio will be facing off with Ac.Milan in the quarter-final rounds.

It’s been over 3 years since Ac.Milan lifted the Serie A title and it doesn’t look like they will be sealing it anytime soon as Juventus and As.Roma are the favorites on winning it this time around. The next best thing that Ac.Milan can secure is the Coppa Italia.

Since FilippoInzaghi and took charge of Ac.Milan as the manager, he hasn’t exactly been going through a smooth ride with a number of recent draws and defeats that the club has sustained which has forced them to stay on the middle section of the Serie A standings. It’s very far-fetched to even consider that Ac.Milan can secure a Champions League or a spot in the Europa League.

The best option that Inzaghi can make right now to try and salvage his debut season as the head coach of Ac.Milan’s main team would be to focus his team on winning the Coppa Italia as if they win this trophy it would allow the team on competing in the Europa League of the next campaign.

There still are more than 15 league matches left to be played in the Serie A which is more than enough time for a club to recover and attempt to end their season on a high note and FilippoInzaghi’sAc.Milan is one of the teams that is eager on making a triumphant second half of the season but as much hope and faith that the supporters of the Italian club have on their players, securing a top spot in the Serie A might just be out of the reach of Inzaghi and his team, this is why they should start setting their sights on the Coppa Italia.

Filippo Inzaghi is the role model of Andrej Kramaric, the 23-year old footballer from Croatia, who is on the radar of many Italian clubs at the moment.

According to Kramaric, he had first seen Inzaghi playing for Juventus back in the late nineties and he became the fan of the striker instantly.

Speaking in an interview of his a couple of days ago, the youngster said, “Filippo was one of the best strikers in his time. He was fantastic at Juventus, and then, obviously, at San Siro, he took his game to another level. He was my role model in my teenage years. I wanted to play like him.”

When asked about him being linked with a lot of clubs including AC Milan, Kramaric said, “Well, playing for Milan or for Internazionale for that matter would be an honour. If I get any such opportunity, I would not let it go, that is for certain.”

“However, presently here at Rijeka, I am feeling quite comfortable. I am in pretty good zone and I believe I am playing as well as I have ever played. So, there’s not going to be any hurry from my side as far as making a move is concerned.”

The reports say that both Inter Milan as well as AC Milan is interested in Kramaric after his continuous impressive showings in the league in Croatia.

Kramaric’s strike rate at Rijeka is almost 1 goal per match. He has featured for his club in 38 matches in the last one and half years and has shaken the net 37 times.
The young man made his debut in international football too in August this year playing against Cyprus. He secured an assist to his name in that friendly fixture.

AC Milan Chief executive Adriano Galliani has claimed that Chelsea midfielder Marco van Ginkel resisted the lure to join the Italian club on a season-long loan deal. The Dutch midfielder moved to Chelsea last summer for around £ 8 million, but he missed most of last campaign due to an anterior crucial ligament injury. He has regained his fitness during pre-season and was part of several friendly matches in the summer. However, the presence of players like Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic ahead of him in the pecking order may see first team opportunities limited for the 21-year-old.
It is highly expected that Van Ginkel will make his first appearance in a Milan shirt in the league match against Parma after the international break. Galliani says that Van Ginkel do not want to move to the San Siro since he wanted to fight for his place at Chelsea. However, a lot of convincing from Milan’s another new signing from Chelsea, Fernando Torres, appears to have done the trick. Torres moved to Milan on a two-year loan deal that effectively brings an end to his Chelsea career since he has only two years left on his contract.
After losing a number of top players in the last few years, Milan certainly need quality in the midfield and Van Ginkel may provide it. This could benefit all parties. “Van Ginkel initially resisted our advances. At a certain point we set him an ultimatum, but then I realised he wouldn’t join us like that and I told him that I was joking. It was not that he did not want to join Milan, but he is a huge talent and he thought that he could become a starter at Chelsea. However, Jose Mourinho, who is a great coach, thought that playing for Milan after eight months on the sidelines due to injury would be best for him,” said Gallaini.