Legendary AC Milan defender Alessandro Costacurta has placed the blame for the club’s UEFA Champions League exit squarely on the players, including Samuel Chukwueze, rather than head coach Sergio Conceição.
Milan crashed out of the competition in the play-off round after a disappointing 1-1 draw against a depleted Feyenoord side, sealing a 2-1 aggregate defeat.
The Rossoneri had made a dream start, taking the lead within the first minute courtesy of Santiago Gimenez, a former Feyenoord striker.
However, their control over the game unraveled when Theo Hernandez received a red card early in the second half.
Hernandez’s ill-discipline proved costly, as the Frenchman picked up his first yellow card for an unnecessary shirt pull on Anis Hadj-Moussa before being sent off for simulation.
With Milan reduced to ten men, Feyenoord capitalized on the advantage, ultimately sending the seven-time European champions out of the competition.
Speaking as a pundit for Sky Italia, Costacurta did not hold back in his criticism of Milan’s performance, particularly singling out Hernandez’s errors.
“I haven’t seen this many mistakes in a two-legged knockout tie in a long time,” Costacurta said, as reported by Corriere dello Sport. “Blunders like Theo’s cannot happen at this level it’s simply unacceptable. This is probably the worst season of his career, and what he did tonight was the final blow for Milan.”
While many might have pointed fingers at Conceição for Milan’s elimination, Costacurta defended the coach, insisting the failure rested on the players.
“It’s fair to say Milan’s exit from the Champions League is on Theo Hernandez. Conceição made no tactical mistakes in his selections; the errors came from the players themselves. They made costly mistakes in every game, and that’s why Milan are out.”
Chukwueze, who was introduced with just seven minutes remaining, had little time to make an impact, but Milan’s overall lackluster performance across both legs left them with no one to blame but themselves.