The effort to be normal, when there can’t be any normality. A paradox, for a coach who has always been considered the “Normal one”. Stefano Pioli enters the Meazza lawn for the last time as Milan coach and is an understandably thoughtful man. He walks slowly around the pitch, mostly alone, he watches the warm-ups of his boys who will soon no longer be like him and he often puts his hand to his cheek, immersed in reflections and sensations that only he can know. He is reminiscent of the philosopher Heraclitus, a dark thinker of ancient Greece. A couple of hellos towards the grandstand, a few chats with the physiotherapist and then with deputy Murelli. Only apparent normality, in fact, broken by flashes that usually don’t happen: a long hug with Kjaer, then with Calabria and even with Bennacer. The owners stand in a circle, he in the center speaks to them with broad gestures. He motivates him because we need to say goodbye properly. The curve applauds the team. When reading the lineups, with the ultras in silence, the atmosphere is decidedly soft. The names flow, whispered by the rest of the stadium but everyone lights up when it’s Leao’s turn and especially Giroud’s turn: everyone shouts Oly. And Pioli? A good response in terms of decibels and a plenary applause from San Siro, perhaps not long, perhaps not very intense, but which is still there. And which is actually just an appetizer to the main course: a handful of seconds before the kick-off Pioli finds himself in the center of a circle packed with people. Everyone around him, absolutely everyone: owners, bench players, there is also the injured Maignan, technical staff, medical staff, athletic staff. Choral applause, Leao goes to pick him up and it is a gesture that tells a lot about this special relationship. Pioli embraces everyone one by one, at which point the stadium melts and yes, now yes, truly convinced and exciting applause comes from all latitudes.
BANNERS
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Of course, it is still still time for a fan strike. An hour and a half before kick-off, yet another banner of a protest appears in the corner which, as announced, will continue for the first half of the match and will end at the start of the second half. “We will never be satisfied”, unfurl the ultras on the balcony of the Primo blu, a banner that in time follows “The noise of silence” (Genoa) and “We demand and deserve a strong and winning club” (Cagliari). Then another one appears on the second ring: “There is no positive season without victories”. Meanwhile on the web Fonseca is massacred by the Rossoneri fans directly on his social profiles. “We don’t want you”, is the catchphrase repeated endlessly. A coach saying goodbye, another one who is about to arrive and is not welcome. Not very well.
