Allegri turns attention to top four battle after Supercoppa exit - Soccer News

[ad_1] Massimiliano Allegri known as for calm amongst AC Milan supporters, insisting that his group should stay targeted on their major goal of ending within the prime 4 of Serie A.

Allegri’s feedback got here after Milan have been dumped out of the Supercoppa Italiana semi-finals on Thursday, with the Rossoneri falling to a 2-0 defeat to Napoli at Al-Awwal Park.

David Neres put Antonio Conte’s group forward six minutes earlier than the break earlier than Rasmus Højlund put the end result past doubt with a tremendous end shortly after the hour mark.

Certainly, Milan have now fallen behind in every of their final 4 official matches after having gone behind solely twice of their first 15 video games of this season throughout all competitions.

However Allegri and his group will now return to Italy and put together for his or her ultimate sport of 2025 towards Hellas Verona on December 28, hoping to keep up their strong begin to the league.

Milan are second within the Serie A standings and only a level behind leaders and rivals Inter, who tackle Bologna within the different Supercoppa Italiana semi-final on Friday.

Requested whether or not Milan may change again to a again 4, Allegri urged persistence, whereas additionally outlining his group’s ambitions for the rest of the season.

“One match can’t overturn three months of labor,” Allegri advised reporters in his post-match press convention.

“We have to analyse issues with serenity. Solely calm may also help us obtain our goal, which is ending within the prime 4.”

The Opta supercomputer predicts Milan to complete within the Serie A prime 4 in 83.4% of its season simulations, with a 16.6% likelihood of lacking out on the Champions League locations.

Defeat within the Supercoppa. pic.twitter.com/IrSnqcTjP7

— AC Milan (@acmilan) December 18, 2025

Milan had their possibilities within the contest, registering an anticipated targets (xG) whole of 1.28 from their 14 photographs, although solely three pressured Vanja Milinkovic-Savic into motion.

However Allegri was disillusioned in regards to the ease with which Napoli scored their targets, with Neres allowed a easy tap-in after Mike Maignan didn't take care of Hojlund’s cross.

Koni De Winter then struggled with the tempo and physicality of Hojlund because the Dane smashed dwelling Milan’s second, with Allegri conceding Napoli have been the higher group on the day.

“We confronted a robust Napoli, and we knew that,” the Milan boss added. “We may have achieved higher on the 2 targets.

“It was a well-played match by each groups, however they defended higher and deserved to win.

“We had beneficial moments and managed the ball fairly properly. We would have liked to assault the field higher. If you happen to make errors like we did for the primary aim, you should defend higher.

“While you concede two targets in three consecutive matches that might have been prevented, it's important to perceive how you can do higher.”

The end result additionally noticed Milan endure a defeat with out scoring and conceding at the least two targets in all competitions for the primary time since a 2-0 defeat to Juventus again in January.