AC Milan will receive a spiky reception when they face Monza at San Siro in their Serie A finale on Saturday night.
The club's ultras will walk out on 15 minutes to, in their words, leave the players and directors "alone with their shame", following a disastrous ending to the season.
Match preview
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For the first time since 2015-16, Milan will finish outside the European places in Serie A, after capitulating late in the campaign.
A 1-0 defeat to Bologna in the Coppa Italia final last midweek was followed up by another loss at Roma, guaranteeing a finish outside the top six, and no European qualification.
Sergio Conceicao only arrived midway through this season, but Milan have regressed, now finding themselves ninth, and there is a good chance that is where they will remain regardless of their result here.
Fiorentina and Bologna are both two points ahead of Milan, so a win for their Coppa Italia conquerors will put them out of sight, while La Viola's superior head-to-head record means they only need a point.
With 16 defeats across all competitions this season, Milan are in danger of registering their joint-highest tally in a single season in their history, as 17 currently ranks as the most, being set in 1973-74, 1996-97 and 2013-14.
Form at San Siro has also been hugely disappointing, because the Rossoneri must win here to avoid equalling their lowest number of home victories in a 21st-century season (eight, in 2007-08 and 2020-21).
Facing a team near the bottom should help with avoiding that, because Milan have been ruthless against the division's weaker outfits this season, winning 10 of 11 matches against the current bottom six.
Milan have also won four of their five Serie A matches against Monza since the Brianzoli's promotion three years ago, including both at San Siro, scoring seven goals in the process.
Monza will bow out of the top flight at the league's most iconic venue, but there has been nothing memorable about the dismal campaign they have endured in 2024-25.
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With just three wins from 37 matches, Monza are set to record one of the worst points totals in Serie A history for a 20-team season; only Chievo Verona in 2018-19 and Salernitana in 2023-24 ended with fewer points (both 17) than Monza's current tally of 18.
After finishing in mid-table in both of their first two Serie A seasons, it is something of a surprise that Monza have fallen off so much this time around, but 25 defeats means they have been well and truly out of their depth.
Manager Alessandro Nesta returns to the venue where he spent a large chunk of his legendary playing career, and will hope to take some solace from the fact their last away day ended in victory at Udinese, arresting a streak of 11 successive losses on the road.
However, that may well have been a one-off, as Monza were beaten convincingly 3-1 by strugglers Empoli at home last weekend.
Team News
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Santiago Gimenez will be suspended for the hosts here after his first-half red card in the defeat at Roma last weekend, so Luka Jovic is set to start in his absence.
Rafael Leao was also left on the bench at the Stadio Olimpico, with his future set to be away from Milan, but Conceicao may give his countryman one final run out at San Siro in red and black.
Theo Hernandez and Kyle Walker are both absent in defence, while further forward, Samuel Chukwueze and Warren Bondo are also set to miss this season finale.
Monza have had numerous absentees for much of the season, and nothing has changed here, with former Inter boys Roberto Gagliardini and Danilo D'Ambrosio set to miss out on a return to San Siro, along with Silvere Ganvoula, Matteo Pessina, Armando Izzo and Omari Forson.
Pedro Pereira will return from suspension though, and Keita Balde only made his comeback from injury fully last weekend, after netting the winner off the bench at Udinese.
Gianluca Caprari has contributed to goals in both of Monza's last two games, but he has a dismal career record against Milan, failing to win in any of his 14 clashes, losing 12.
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Musah, Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders, Jimenez; Pulisic, Jovic, Leao
Monza possible starting lineup:
Pizzignacco; Pedro Pereira, Brorsson, Caldirola; Birindelli, Castrovilli, Bianco, Akpa Akpro, Kyriakopoulos; Keita Balde, Caprari
We say: AC Milan 3-1 Monza
Milan will be demoralised and most likely jeered by their own supporters here after a dreadful week, but they should still get the job done against a Monza side who will rank among one of the worst in Serie A history.
The hosts have been strong against teams in the bottom six, taking exactly 50% of their points this season against teams 15th or lower, and that is set to increase here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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Andrew Delaney
