Fledgling AC Milan coach Cristian Brocchi faced the wrath of the club’s fans after a shock 2-1 defeat to basement side Hellas Verona left the seven-time European champions in danger of missing out on Europe next season.
Brocchi said he had fulfilled a long-held dream when he was appointed to replace Sinisa Mihajlovic following the popular Serbian’s surprise sacking three weeks ago, but three games into his tenure the former Milan midfielder and club favorite is facing crisis after admitting “the lights went out” during a shock 2-1 defeat at Verona.
However, it was not enough to see Luigi Delneri’s men escape relegation to Serie B after a 1-0 victory for fellow strugglers Carpi, 1-0 over Empoli.
Photo: EPA
Despite beginning with a 1-0 away win at UC Sampdoria, Milan were held to a scoreless draw at the San Siro last week by relegation-haunted Carpi, who remain fourth from bottom, but 10 points ahead of Verona.
Milan opened the scoring at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi on Monday thanks to French forward Jeremy Menez on 21 minutes, but Milan were only holding Verona at bay thanks to the heroics of teenage goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and then a penalty by former Milan striker Giampaolo Pazzini leveled the scores in the 72nd minute.
Milan looked to be heading for a share of the spoils until the fifth minute of stoppage-time when Luca Siligardi struck a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
“It’s only normal that I assume responsibility. We didn’t play well and didn’t play as we’d planned to do,” Brocchi said. “The defeat hurts and obviously we have to work hard. Today, the lights went out and that made it difficult for us. That’s what we have to work on, making sure the switch doesn’t go off.”
It was only Verona’s fourth win and despite their impending relegation coach Luigi Delneri was defiant.
“Today, we were motivated to beat Milan,” Delneri said. “We were more aggressive, but Donnarumma was in great form.”
The defeat has dented Milan’s UEFA Europa League hopes. Brocchi’s men remain sixth, but with three games remaining are six points behind fifth-placed ACF Fiorentina and a guaranteed European place.
Milan can qualify directly for Europe’s second-tier competition if they beat Juventus in the Coppa Italia final on May 21, although that looks a tall order after the Turin giants secured their 32nd title with three games to spare after SSC Napoli’s defeat to AS Roma on Monday.
If they lose the final, the Europa League spot goes to Serie A’s sixth-placed finisher, but Milan are now just one point ahead of US Sassuolo.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite