Conceicao demands more hunger as AC Milan eye Champions League top eight

Sergio Conceicao has been in charge of AC Milan for less than a month but has already diagnosed a lack of hunger as the source of his new team’s woes, as the seven-time kings of Europe host Girona on Wednesday with the last 16 of the Champions League firmly in their sights.

Milan could yet obtain direct qualification as they sit a point away from the top eight positions and have two winnable final fixtures in the league phase, first their lowly Spanish opponents at the San Siro and then at Dinamo Zagreb next week.

But Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Juventus highlighted the same issues of quality and character that have become increasingly evident with each season that has passed since their dramatic league title win in 2022.

Milan are a whopping 19 points behind Serie A leaders Napoli but more importantly sit eight points from Italy’s top four, making the club’s minimum requirement of qualification for next season’s edition of Europe’s elite competition a difficult task.

“The first step to winning a match is wanting to win it,” said Conceicao after his team’s fully deserved loss in Turin.

“I don’t want to hear anything about tiredness or lack of energy, it’s only January for goodness sake. The players have everything they need to recover in time to play every three days. What we need is an empty fridge at home, more hunger.”

Charismatic Conceicao was hired to shake up a Milan team long been considered to be lacking fight, and the Portuguese was visibly displeased at his players after they crumbled to their first defeat since he replaced Paulo Fonseca in the dugout last month.

The 50-year-old had already publicly blasted his team when he described Milan’s first-half display against relegation-threatened Cagliari, a match which