Why Europa League Qualification Should Never Be Seen as a Success for AC Milan

Their last salvation, the only realistic target for AC Milan in this season of misery, is slipping away. The Europa League was all they had left.

The Rossoneri are 11 points out of a European spot with 11 games remaining in the Serie A campaign. That a seven-time Champions League winner is even considering Europa League qualification as a success is sad: this is how far Milan have fallen.

“But Milan cannot remain out of Europe,” defender Philippe Mexes told Milan Channel (h/t Goal). “We have to stand up—there are 33 points left to play for and we will look to take them all. It is a difficult championship for everyone but we must try to win every game from Saturday onwards.”

It’s true that this second-tier UEFA competition is a lot more attractive now, with the winner claiming not only silverware but a Champions League berth. And the games have a March Madness feel to them, one game on top of another.

But this is not where AC Milan belong. In fact, they have never won this trophy before, not even when it was the UEFA Cup. It was just never a priority. They were too busy participating in Champions League and European Cup games, Cup Winners' Cups and Super Cups.

The Europa League is something joint-CEO Adriano Galliani had mocked a couple of years ago.

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Galliani - May 20, 2013: "Europa League is like being relegated to Serie B for the big teams." https://t.co/QkI9E9G1qE

— AC Milan News (@Milanello) May 19, 2014"

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Galliani has said Milan "must fight for third" and added that the Europa League brings "very low income and has low appeal."

— Meytar Zeevi (@RossoneriBlog) December 14, 2014"

Qualifying for the Europa League is a small consolation. And it would mark progress: Milan finished eighth last season, and it was always coach Filippo Inzaghi’s goal to build on that.

But it’s only confirmation that the club have lowered their ambitions. Here they are hoping to enter a competition that pays a measly few million euros; meanwhile, Juventus are set to make €78 million in the Champions League after beating Borussia Dortmund and advancing to the quarter-finals, according to a report from Gianluca Di Marzio’s colleague.

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Juventus have earned €78m by qualifying to the QF's of the Champions League [via @BennyJFinance ]

— Juvefc.com (@juvefcdotcom) March 18, 2015"

Milan, like many other Serie A clubs, are in debt, and they need that kind of prize money to compete not only on the pitch but in the market. The Europa League is no place to get rich.

Of course, they don’t have a squad like Juve’s. But Milan do have a better squad on paper than the likes of Genoa and Torino, maybe even Sampdoria. Milan should be up their jostling for that last Champions League spot. Bad coaching, even worse behaviour, poor decision-making and little belief: these are the reasons why Milan are not excelling.

“Maybe in some situations we lack a little grit and we are short on confidence,” Mexes said. “But we must work to concede fewer goals because we know that, with our players, we will always be capable of scoring more.”

It’s almost the end of the season, and Milan are still working on the basics. That is a bad sign. Worse still is the reality that a second-rate tournament like the Europa League may be too far out of reach.