Maldini’s ghost hangs over uninspiring Milan as top-four place slips from view | Nicky Bandini

San Siro emptied early after supporters once again sang the former director’s name as club faces lack of Champions League football … again

There were more than seven minutes left to play, plus injury time, in a crucial end-of-season game, yet San Siro was already half empty. Milan’s Ultras had deserted the Curva Sud to prepare a post-game protest, but even the less organised, more forgiving parts of the club’s fanbase could not be bothered to stay until the end of another humiliating defeat.

Their team was losing 3-0, at home, to Atalanta, and it hardly even felt a surprise. With this loss, inevitable as it now appeared, the Rossoneri had collected just seven points from their last eight games. Only three teams in Serie A had done worse over the same stretch. Two of those – Verona, and Pisa – have been relegated. The third, Lecce, are perilously close to joining them.