• A dismal 5-2 home loss to Sassuolo on Sunday put AC Milan in danger.
• Everything that could go wrong for beleaguered Milan did.
• Giroud had an early goal disallowed for a beautiful finish.

AC Milan‘s year was hampered further by the danger of missing out on a place in the Champions League after a 5-2 home loss to Sassuolo on Sunday.

At a beautifully bright San Siro, everything that could go wrong for beleaguered Milan did, with two goals disallowed for offside and a catastrophic defensive performance condemning the champions to another crushing defeat after already being destroyed by Lazio and Inter Milan in the previous 10 days.

Stefano Pioli’s team plummeted to fourth place and would now be 15 points behind league leaders Napoli in the race for the Scudetto if Roma defeats bitter rivals in Sunday’s late game.

Milan’s title defense is in ruins, and if Roma or Lazio, who play host to Fiorentina later in the day, avoid defeat, Milan will also fail to finish in the top four in Serie A.

Milan will play second-placed Inter in the derby after Inter beat Milan 3-0 in the Super Cup less than a week ago. Milan is attempting to overcome a slump that started when they blew a two-goal lead to draw with Roma three weeks ago.

“We have to react; we are unlikely to win the title again, but we must battle to qualify for the Champions League,” Pioli told Sky Italia.

“We haven’t been able to do things correctly strategically or mentally since we drew with Roma.”

Sassuolo, who are in 16th place after winning for the first time since late October, had Domenico Berardi to thank for the goals by Gregoire Defrel and Davide Frattesi that gave them a 2-0 lead after just 20 minutes.

After Olivier Giroud had Milan back in the game with a goal of his own off a corner kick in the 30th minute, Berardi restored Sassuolo’s two-goal advantage. Giroud had an early goal disallowed for a beautiful finish.

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