For both AC Milan and Liverpool, their most recent domestic results have proven to be an outlier in the theme of their respective starts to the season.
Ahead of the Champions League clash between the two teams on Tuesday night, the Rossoneri enjoyed a cathartic 4-0 win over Venezia – their first of the Serie A campaign after two draws and a defeat – while the Reds saw their 100% Premier League record ended as Nottingham Forest triumphed at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s side put that hiccup behind them to run out fully deserving 3-1 winners at the San Siro, with the result and the overall progression of the match prompting a somewhat lewd chant from a collection of angry home supporters.
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As noted by James Horncastle via X and for The Athletic, shortly before full-time last night, a group of fans in the Curva Sud were shouting ‘Fuori coglioni!’, which the Italian football expert translated as them demanding that the Milan players ‘show some balls’.
Chants of “Fuori coglioni!” reverberate around San Siro. Milan’s players told emphatically to show some balls after tonight’s defeat
— James Horncastle (@JamesHorncastle) September 17, 2024
While the frustration of the Forest result and performance was compounded by how well Liverpool played in Italy, the venomous atmosphere among the home support at the San Siro showed that things could be a whole lot worse.
The Reds had beaten Milan in the own backyard before, but the manner in which we dominated last night illustrated not only how good Slot’s team can be when they’re on song, but also how far the Rossoneri have fallen since the formidable side they had when we played them in two Champions League finals in the 2000s.
Thankfully it’s been a long time since a similar level of anger was so palpable inside Anfield, even during the difficult 2022/23 season. The nearest thing we’ve had to that level of mutiny in modern times was the tail end of the dismal Roy Hodgson era midway through 2010/11.
While Paulo Fonseca continues the damning postmortem from his team’s point of view, Liverpool fans can be content with their side getting back on the horse by making a victorious return to the Champions League and hopefully emitting a winning note domestically once more at the weekend.
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