Napoli defeat a ‘black day’ for AC Milan, says under-pressure Conceicao

Sergio Conukicao admitted that the absence of important players hit his AC Milan team hard during their 2-1 defeat against Napoli in Serie A on Sunday.

Concuyo watched while Matteo Politano and Romelu Lukaku Napoli fired two goals for the first half, but the Rossoneri responded after the break.

But the late goal of Luka Jovic turned out to be a comfort because Milan was unable to find a way, in which replacement Santiago Gimenez also saw a penalty that was saved by Alex Meret.

Milan is now in the ninth in the table on 47 points, nine points on drift of the Champions League places, although their case has not been helped by recent injuries.

Prior to the start in the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, the club confirmed that Ruben Loftus-Cheek was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and had undergone surgery.

Malick Thiaw was also absence, while Rafael Leao, who replaced Warren Bondo in the second half, struggled with a matter that was chosen in international duty.

“Since I've been here, I have never apologized, although we played every three days to two weeks ago, but today absolutely everything happened,” said Conkeicao.

“The doctor called me to tell me that Loftus-Cheek had to undergo surgery, Thiaw had intestinal problems and Leao felt a little pain in his thigh.

“I don't want to think about bad luck, even though it was a black day.”

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– AC Milan (@acmilan) March 30, 2025

Verenicao also said that his team had to perform better after admitting twice early in the first half.

The Politano strike was indeed only the second goal that was scored in the first two minutes of the game by Napoli against Milan in the Serie A, after the efforts of Piero Golin in March 1955.

But the Milan boss was happy with the reaction of his team in the second half, with the Rossoneri ending the match that dominated many of the competition statistics.

Milan ended the game with an expected goals (XG) total from 2.69 to 0.96 from Napoli.

“(Napoli) managed to escape too easily in the first half, but we justified the situation in the second half and we did it with more courage and aggression,” he said.

“We missed something, I have a lot of confidence, the atmosphere in the group is healthy and I don't want to change it.”

Milan now focuses their attention on the Coppa Italia, where they are confronted on Wednesday with bitter rivals and Serie A-leaders Inter Milan in the first stage of the semi-final.

“It is an important game, the Coppa Italia is one of the club's objectives,” Confeicao added.

“The players have already shown that they have character, we must continue to work on our balance.

“It is difficult for everyone in this position in the competition table, but I have a group that wants to change these results.”

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