And to think, it was all set up so nicely for Milan. Beat Dinamo Zagreb -- a club who had changed managers in December and who had played just two games since before Christmas -- and a top eight spot was assured. Heck, even a draw, depending on results elsewhere, might do the trick.

Instead, the 2-1 defeat means they're headed to the playoffs, where they'll play either Feyenoord or, ahem, Juventus. You don't want to scapegoat Yunus Musah, but obviously getting yourself sent off with your team a goal down in the first half isn't too clever. He felt it was harsh, but you can't put yourself in those positions. Milan may also be aggrieved about Rafael Leão's elbow on Samy Mmaee that wiped out (via VAR) the penalty referee Francois Letexier awarded (which would have put them 2-1 up). They ought to be equally aggrieved about Matteo Gabbia gifting Martin Baturina the opener.

Incidents may have gone against them, but you can't escape the performance which, once again, wasn't particularly good. New manager Sérgio Conceição was supposed to be kick butt and take names -- previous boss Paulo Fonseca, for some reason, was seen as milquetoast -- but he's dealing with many of the same issues as his predecessor. Theo Hernández and Leao are as intermittent as turn signals, whichever partnership plays at the back gives Mike Maignan nightmares, the guys off the bench (on Wednesday it was Sami Chukwueze, Noah Okafor and Tammy Abraham) don't move the needle.

As for Dinamo, they exit with the same points as Manchester City. That's not nothing. They'll be cursing the 9-2 defeat to Bayern on Matchday 1 which left them with a putrid goal difference which ultimately condemned them.