Milan collapsed after taking the early lead, dropping to a Cagliari aspect that had nothing to play for, and throwing away a Champions League ticket.
The Rossoneri had stuttered badly in latest weeks, however the win away to and a slip-up meant that . Pressure remained sky excessive off the sphere, with stories of energy struggles behind the scenes. , and Pervis Estupinan all , however solely the Belgian was chosen to begin, with Leao and benched. The Sardinians secured security final week, forsaking Semih Kilicsoy, , and .
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MILAN, ITALY – MAY 24: Rafael Leao of appears on from the substitutes bench previous to the Serie A match between AC Milan and on the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on Might 24, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photograph by Marco Luzzani/Getty Photographs)
It took underneath two minutes to interrupt the impasse, as knocked down an extended ball and Alexis Saelemaekers let it bounce earlier than sweeping in from shut vary.
MILAN, ITALY – MAY 24: Alexis Saelemaekers of AC Milan celebrates scoring his staff’s first aim with teammates in the course of the Serie A match between AC Milan and Cagliari Calcio on the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on Might 24, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photograph by Marco Luzzani/Getty Photographs)
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Nevertheless, Cagliari fought again, first with ’s acrobatic save to push the roller out of the far prime nook. On the ensuing nook kick, nodded it down and was quickest to react on the rebound from six yards.
ought to’ve executed higher with a weak end on the Saelemaekers lay-off, prodding it straight at , with the identical finish end result for Gimenez and a header.
Maignan risked fumbling a cross, rescued by Tomori, whereas Gimenez couldn’t end off the roll throughout.
Gaetano virtually scored a outstanding aim on the stroke of half-time, flicking the ball over Fofana solely to then fireplace over the bar.
MILAN, ITALY – MAY 24: Gennaro Borrelli of Cagliari celebrates scoring his staff’s first aim with teammates in the course of the Serie A match between AC Milan and Cagliari Calcio on the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on Might 24, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photograph by Marco Luzzani/Getty Photographs)
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Extremely, Cagliari took the lead at San Siro from a set play. The free kick was knocked down for Borrelli, forcing a difficult Maignan save on the close to publish, then Juan Rodriguez nodded within the unfastened ball from six yards.
Milan had been out of the Champions League with this end result and successful away to , so threw on and Niclas Fullkrug.
Christian Pulisic got here shut with a diving header that bounced vast, and Rafael Leao was lastly launched with 22 minutes left to play.
It was Cagliari who got here closest to including one other aim, as Maignan needed to make a double save on Borrelli first, then the follow-up on the close to publish.
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made a decisive block on ’s end, then on the nook Gianluca Gaetano stung Maignan’s gloves with a thunderbolt.
Modric flicked his effort vast and Fullkrug couldn’t maintain his headers heading in the right direction, whereas Maignan needed to deny one-on-one after a counter-attack.
The ultimate whistle blew and Milan had blown their likelihood at Champions League soccer to deafening jeers from the followers. They misplaced three of the final 4 video games.
Milan 1-2 Cagliari
Saelemaekers 2 (M), Borrelli 20 (C), Rodriguez 57 (C)