Conceicao: ‘Never experienced this in my career’ after furious Milan protests and 2-1 defeat

MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 02: AC Milan head coach Sergio Conceicao reacts during the Serie match between Milan and Lazio at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on March 02, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)

Sergio Conceicao feels that Milan are affected by the fan protests after defeat to Lazio, which left them in ninth place. ‘This is the first time I’ve experienced this in my career.’

The Rossoneri were already subjected to insults from their own fans throughout the match, with the Curva Sud left empty for the first 15 minutes in protest.

Their situation at the final whistle was significantly worse, as Mattia Zaccagni had put Lazio in front at San Siro, Samuel Chukwueze nodded in the late equaliser despite a Strahinja Pavlovic red card, but at the 98^th minute Pedro converted the penalty awarded for Mike Maignan’s foul on Gustav Isaksen.

It is a third consecutive Serie A defeat and leaves Conceicao in a humiliating ninth place, leapfrogged today by Roma in the table.

Conceicao identifies biggest Milan problems

“It is not an easy moment, we know that. The players feel what is around the club. There is only one path forward, to work, to have pride for the colours we defend and give our all every day to change this situation,” Conceicao told DAZN.

“I don’t like talking about bad luck, but there are also incidents that keep happening and are negative for us, decisive for the opponents.”

Milan once again struggled to start well and could easily have been more than a goal down by half-time, when it was still 11 against 11. Did the protest from the ultras make the situation even worse for the squad?

“We are talking ultimately about the same thing. We had very little time to prepare, we talked about the atmosphere around us and this is the first time I’ve experienced this in my career. I was a player, I know when it’s like this, your boots feel like they are burning. If a dribble or pass doesn’t work, or you go behind, it burns more,” replied Conceicao.

“I saw great character and desire to turn it around, we managed to equalise down to 10 men and had chances to win until that late penalty. The players are giving me a positive response in training, they believe in what we are doing, but the situation has been difficult since the start of the season.

“I haven’t had much time to work on tactical or fitness issues, as we play decisive matches every three days and I only arrived a couple of months ago.”

It was put to Conceicao that many of the Milan players run forward to attack, but do not put anywhere near the same effort or intensity into tracking back to defend.

“We are working on that too, because defensive solidity is every bit as important as attacking prowess,” agreed the coach.

“I believe there are players with technical quality who can make the difference in attack and they must get their minds into helping the solidity and unity. If we defend well, then we can hurt teams in attack.

“This has always been the approach of my teams as a coach, but I came here and found players with different characteristics. I agree 100 per cent with that analysis.”