AC MILAN slumped to their worst defeat in 21 years after a 5-0 demolition at the hands of local rivals Atalanta.
Goals from Alejandro Gomez, Mario Pasalic, Luis Muriel and a Josip Ilicic double condemned AC Milan to their eighth league defeat of the season.
Atalanta’s win over local rivals AC Milan was their worst defeat since 1998Credit: Getty Images – Getty
It was the first time that the Rossoneri have conceded five goals to Atalanta since 1950, and leaves them tenth in the Serie A table.
Gomez opened the scoring after ten minutes, cutting inside from the left and firing home into the top corner.
Atalanta then scored three in the space of eleven second half minutes, the pick of the goals being a curling 20 yard effort from Ilicic.
Substitute Muriel came on to complete the rout, scoring the fifth in the 83rd minute at the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia stadium in Bergamo.
Fans have been quick to react on Twitter, with claims AC Milan have reached new heights in “their banter era”.
Another Twitter user said they “can’t imagine what it’s like being an AC Milan fan”.
Milan keeper Gigio Donnaruma had not even been born the last time AC Milan lost a Serie A game by a five-goal margin – a 5-0 loss to Roma in May 1998.
Former Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis was watching the game, after leaving the North London club to become AC Milan’s CEO last year.
The seven-time European champions are on their third manager of 2019, with Gazidis having much higher expectations than their current postion.
Previous manager Marco Giampaolo was sacked in October, after just seven games in charge, having taken over from Gennaro Gattuso in the summer.
Gattuso had signed a three-and-a-half year contract extension in March, but left the club less than three months later.
Atalanta on the other hand are up to fifth in Serie A, having also qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Atalanta are the first team to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League after losing their opening three games since Newcastle did it in 2002-03.Credit: EPA
They managed to qualify despite losing their first three games of the group stage, and will fancy their chances of reaching the quarter finals after being handed a tie against Spanish side Valencia.
The result is another blow to AC Milan, after it was reported that former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic snubbed a return to San Siro, as their salary offer did not meet his demands.
Milan do not play again until January 6, and will be hoping that the Serie A winter break will help them to make much needed improvements to a struggling side.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
