While discussing Italian football's infrastructural issues duringan interview with theGazzetta dello Sport and theCorriere della Sera just before the conclusion of the Serie A season, AC Milan's under-fire owner Gerry Cardinale accused Inter of "not showing up" in last year's Champions League final. The Nerazzurri may have been played off the pitch by PSG, but it was hard to work out exactly why RedBird founder Cardinale felt compelled to reference Milan's city rivals.
The Italian game may have many problems, but Inter certainly aren't one of them. The game in Munich was their second appearance in the Champions League final in three seasons, whereas Milan have now failed to even qualify for two years in a row - and the Rossoneri rather sum up the disastrous way in which most Serie A sides are run.
Despite spending more during last summer's transfer window than any of their top-flight rivals, and being unburdened by any European football, Milan went from challenging Inter for the title to throwing away a top-four finish by losing six of their final 10 games.
Their decisive defeat at home to Cagliari was particularly damning, with Milan opening the scoring, only to end up being comfortably beaten by a team that had nothing on the line.
Cardinale responded to the"unequivocal failure" by firing not only coach Massimiliano Allegri, but also CEO Giorgio Furlani, sporting director Igli Tare, and technical director Geoffrey Moncada. The cull will do nothing to appease the fans, though. They were deeply concerned by the decision to sack former technical director Paolo Maldini back in 2023 - just a year after the club legend had masterminded a surprise Scudetto success - but were willing to give Cardinale & Co. time to prove their worth.
Now, though, patience has run out. There were protests against Cardinale and his special advisor, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, even before the Cagliari capitulation. After it,Curva Sud ultras hung a banner outside the hotel in which he was staying that read, "Cardinale, go home! SHAME!"
There's no indication that the American intends to grant their wish, but if he does stay at San Siro - and the early reports indicate that he intends to take a more hands-on role from this point on - he could do worse at looking at what newly crowned Serie A champions Inter are doing right to help him figure out where Milan are going wrong.