GdS: ‘Operation comeback’ – why Milan remain internally optimistic about the UCL | OneFootball

AC Milan are in the bottom section of the new big Champions League with no points from their opening two games, but there is no internal panic regarding the situation.

La Gazzetta dello Sport write that while it is true that Milan have problems and need to improve, and it would have been nice to have at least a point on the board by now, there is also a realistic element to the current situation.

There are now 36 teams in the competition with eight games (against eight different opponents) for each team. The top eight go directly to the round of 16, while the teams from position 9 to position 24 meet in a play-off.

Computer predictions and common sense suggest that to reach the top eight at least 15 points will be needed, perhaps 16. To qualify for the play-off (essentially the round of 32), it is likely that at least 9 will be needed.

Milan can target the ‘easier’ games on paper at home against Club Brugge, Red Star and Girona plus those away against Slovan Bratislava and Dinamo Zagreb, meaning that not getting nine points would be a shock.

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It is in the Rossoneri’s interest to try and win at least five of those last six games (the other being Real Madrid away) to rise up the table, especially because of how the play-off round works, whereby finishing higher gets more advantageous seeding.

Due to the 18 points still up for grabs and the more accessible games to come, Paulo Fonseca and his team are not panicking, nor are the management. RedBird Capital and Gerry Cardinale would certainly have liked different results in the big games, especially because each win brings €2m.

Despite the rocky start, Cardinal is optimistic about the future and that the team will access the next round, continuing to cash in.