San Siro exploded after Milan's collapse, Ibrahimović left escorted by security
AC Milan ended the season with one of its heaviest defeats in recent years. In the final, 38th round of Serie A, played on May 24, 2026, at San Siro, Massimiliano Allegri's team lost 1:2 to Cagliari and was left without qualification for the Champions League. According to the club's official report, Milan took the lead after roughly one hundred seconds through a goal by Alexis Saelemaekers, but the visitors turned the match around through Gennaro Borrelli and Juan Rodríguez. The defeat triggered a fierce reaction from the stands, and Zlatan Ibrahimović, senior adviser to the club's ownership and management, was particularly targeted; after the match, he left the VIP stand escorted by security.
Italian specialist media, citing reports from the stadium, state that some supporters loudly protested against the club's leadership after the final whistle. According to those reports, Ibrahimović was exposed to criticism from dissatisfied supporters on his way from the stand to the parking lot, disappointed by a season in which Milan squandered, in the final stretch, a position that should have led to Europe's elite competition. Although there is no official confirmation that the incident escalated into a physical confrontation, the mere fact that a former club icon left the box with security shows how tense the atmosphere around Milan has become.
The defeat that changed the entire season
Milan entered the match against Cagliari with a clear objective: to confirm a place in the Champions League with a victory. According to beIN Sports' report, the team went into the final round in third place, but knew that in the event of a slip-up, Roma, Como and Juventus could overtake them. The start could not have been better for the home side. Saelemaekers used a pass after an action by Santiago Gimenez as early as the second minute and scored for 1:0, making it seem that Milan would avoid the worst-case scenario. But Cagliari, which had already secured survival in the league earlier, did not play the match without ambition.
The visitors equalised in the 20th minute through Borrelli, after a set piece and a scramble in the penalty area. Until the end of the first half, Milan tried to regain control, but did not convert the chances that Christopher Nkunku, Youssouf Fofana and Gimenez had. In the second half, Cagliari once again punished the insecurity of the home defence. Juan Rodríguez reacted in the 57th minute after a save by Mike Maignan and headed the ball into the net for 1:2. According to Milan's official report, the home team threatened in the closing stages through Christian Pulisic, Zachary Athekame, Rafael Leão and Adrien Rabiot, but the result did not change again.
The defeat was especially painful because Milan did not fall because of one isolated slip-up, but because of a series of weaker results in the final stretch of the championship. In its own report, the club stated that the team finished the season with 70 points and paid the price for a late drop in form. In competitive terms, the consequences are clear: Milan will not play in the Champions League, but will, according to the club statement, return to European competitions through the Europa League. For a club of such size, with ambitions and a budget built around regular participation in UEFA's strongest competition, that is a serious sporting and financial blow.
Supporters turned their anger toward the management
The dissatisfaction at San Siro did not begin only after the final round. During the closing stretch of the season, supporters increasingly called out the club's ownership and sporting structure, and after the defeat to Cagliari the frustration culminated. According to a report by the SempreMilan portal, the Curva Sud chanted during and after the match against the management, owner Gerry Cardinale and the sporting leadership, with messages that the club did not deserve such support. After the end of the encounter, whistles and protests did not come from only one stand, but from several parts of the stadium.
In such an atmosphere, Ibrahimović found himself in a particularly sensitive position. As a player, he had an almost mythical status at Milan, and he said goodbye to the supporters in June 2023 as one of the most important figures in the club's recent history. But his new role is not emotionally protected in the same way as his playing career. When the result is poor, supporters no longer see him only as a legendary striker, but as part of the structure involved in making sporting and strategic decisions. That is why criticism, apart from being directed at the ownership and CEO Giorgio Furlani, was also aimed at him.
According to available reports, Ibrahimović hurried toward the parking lot after the match, accompanied by security guards. Some supporters loudly expressed dissatisfaction along the short route from the box to the exit. There is no official information that the club initiated a special security procedure because of this, but the scene carries strong symbolism: the man who until recently was synonymous with Milan's winning mentality is now publicly confronted with anger over a season that supporters perceive as a missed opportunity.
Ibrahimović's role under scrutiny
Zlatan Ibrahimović returned to Milan in December 2023, but not as a player. According to the official announcement by RedBird Capital Partners and AC Milan, he was appointed an operating partner in RedBird's portfolio for sport, media and entertainment and a senior adviser to AC Milan's ownership and management. In that role, according to the same statement, he was supposed to work with the ownership and club leadership on sporting and business operations, player development, strengthening the global brand and strategic projects, including the topic of the new stadium.
Such a description of the function leaves broad room for interpreting his actual influence. Ibrahimović is not a classic sporting director, but neither is he merely an ambassador without responsibility. Precisely because of this, his name appears in supporters' messages and criticism when the club's direction is discussed. In public, he has often appeared as a strong symbol of the RedBird era, and because of the status he has in football, he was expected to help restore a winning culture. When results are absent, such symbolic weight becomes a burden.
The problem for Milan is not only the defeat to Cagliari, but the impression that the sporting project has no clear and stable line. During the season, supporters criticised squad selection, changes in the team, communication by the club leadership and the management of expectations. In such a context, Ibrahimović became the face of broader dissatisfaction, although not all decisions depend exclusively on him. His playing past can no longer fully cushion the criticism, because supporters now demand results at the management level.
Allegri failed to lead Milan to the goal
Massimiliano Allegri ended the season without achieving the key objective. According to beIN Sports' report, his Milan entered the final round with an advantage it only needed to confirm, but in the end remained outside the places leading to the Champions League. The manner in which it happened was especially painful: an early lead, home ground, an opponent without major result pressure and then a turnaround that silenced San Siro. In such circumstances, the coach is criticised not only for the result, but also for the psychological collapse at the moment when the team had to be at its most stable.
During the match, Milan tried to find a way back into the game through changes from the bench. According to the club's official match record, Pulisic, Luka Modrić, Athekame, Leão and Niclas Füllkrug came on in the second half. However, neither greater individual quality nor pressure in the closing stages was enough. Cagliari held on, while Maignan at the other end made additional saves to prevent the defeat from becoming even more convincing. This further strengthened the impression that Milan did not lose only because of unfortunate circumstances, but because of a lack of control in the key match.
In the broader Serie A standings, available tables after the final round show that Roma and Como took advantage of Milan's fall and finished ahead of them. Como's placement is especially significant, as the club turned the final stretch of the season into a historic breakthrough, while Milan was left with the feeling that it opened the door to its rivals itself. Juventus also remained outside the Champions League, but that does not lessen the weight of Milan's failure. For a club that presents itself as a permanent candidate for the European summit, finishing outside the top four positions represents a serious warning.
Sporting and financial consequences
Absence from the Champions League has consequences that go beyond sporting prestige. Participation in that competition brings higher revenues from UEFA prizes, television rights, commercial contracts and high-profile matches. Milan will remain on the European stage by playing in the Europa League, but that is not the same level of revenue or visibility. At a time when clubs increasingly plan budgets according to European appearances, missing out on the Champions League can affect the summer transfer window, salary levels, the ability to retain key players and the attraction of new reinforcements.
The pressure therefore does not stop at the dressing room. RedBird Capital Partners ownership, CEO Giorgio Furlani, adviser Ibrahimović and the sporting sector will have to explain how the club intends to correct its direction. According to AC Milan's official announcement from 2025, Igli Tare was appointed sporting director of the first team and reports directly to Furlani. The club then presented him as the person who should launch a new cycle, with experience gained at Lazio and knowledge of Italian football. After this kind of end to the season, that role will additionally come into focus.
Tare's arrival was supposed to mark a clearer sporting structure, but supporters now expect concrete decisions, not just announcements. Milan must assess which players it can build as a core, where the biggest tactical and squad problems lie and what role Allegri, Ibrahimović and Furlani have in all of it. The summer will therefore be a period in which not only transfers will be judged, but also the club's ability to offer the public a convincing plan. After a season that ended with whistles, trust cannot be restored through communication messages, but through results and clear moves.
A symbolic end to a season that slipped out of control
The sight of Ibrahimović leaving San Siro with security is therefore not merely a side episode after one defeat. It summarises the change in the relationship between supporters and the club leadership. Milan supporters did not react only to the result against Cagliari, but to a broader feeling that the club did not make use of a season in which it had control over its own fate. When a team in third place in the final round fails to qualify for the Champions League, sporting failure also gains an emotional dimension.
For Ibrahimović, the situation is especially sensitive because his bond with Milan was built on victories, charisma and the belief that he raises the level of every dressing room he enters. In a management role, the criteria are different. It is not only the energy he brings that is measured, but also the effectiveness of decisions connected with the club's strategy. If Milan wants to avoid dissatisfaction turning into a long-term conflict with the stands, it will have to show quickly that it understands the scale of the problem.
San Siro welcomed the final round with hope and sent it off with whistles. Cagliari left with a victory that was not decisive for its survival, while Milan was left without the competition that defines the ambitions of Europe's biggest clubs. On such an evening, security around Ibrahimović became the image of Milan's crisis: a legendary name, restless stands and a club that, after the final whistle, must answer the question of how a season with a clear goal ended as a missed opportunity.
Sources:
- AC Milan – official match report for AC Milan – Cagliari 1:2 and club data on the end of the season (link)
- SempreMilan / MilanNews – report on the supporters' reaction at San Siro and Zlatan Ibrahimović's departure escorted by security (link)
- beIN Sports – report on Milan's defeat to Cagliari and dropping out of the places leading to the Champions League (link)
- AC Milan / RedBird Capital Partners – official announcement on Zlatan Ibrahimović's role as senior adviser to AC Milan's ownership and management (link)
- AC Milan – official announcement on the appointment of Igli Tare as sporting director of the first team (link)