5 things from AC Milan's dull defeat to Lazio

Welcome to the 5 Things recap by theScore's Anthony Lopopolo, which highlights AC Milan's performances over the 2018-19 season. Here's a breakdown of Milan's 1-0 loss to Lazio in the Coppa Italia semifinal second leg.

Possession leads to nothing

Watching Milan has become a chore. They were incapable of turning possession into meaningful chances on goal, too often meandering through the midfield with nary a clue. Thomas Strakosha hardly had anything to do. For the umpteenth time, Krzysztof Piatek was left all alone up front, feeding off the scraps while his teammates heaved speculative balls forward. The wingers were also held in check, with Suso cowering in one-on-one situations and Samu Castillejo being knocked off the ball. But what we saw was nothing new. This team is flickering out at the most crucial part of the campaign.

Correa shows off dribbling skills

Joaquin Correa isn't on the scoresheet as often as he should be. Few wingers in Serie A take on defenders like the Argentine, who ran right at Milan any chance he could. His slaloming runs forced the Rossoneri onto the back foot and added another dimension to Lazio's attack. Milan could use a winger like Correa, who can create space on his own and attack with confidence. He had all the answers in this game.

Counter tears Milan apart

Seconds after Milan won a corner kick, Lazio struck on the counter and scored the winner. Weeks before, Milan conceded the same kind of goal, allowing Udinese to run the length of the pitch. Not only are Milan woeful at set pieces, but they're also giving away opportunities when they should be taking advantage of them. It's hard to pinpoint the reason why this keeps happening. Is it fatigue? Are the players too slow to react? Milan always have problems defending against the counter, but the one on Wednesday was so avoidable. Hakan Calhanoglu, who had just come on, pressed when he shouldn't have, and Franck Kessie gave Correa too much space on the outside. It was as if they'd never faced a counter before.

Caldara makes error-free return

Lost in the disappointment was Mattia Caldara's return from injury. It didn't look like his first start in seven months. He stepped up to intervene and tried to play ambitious vertical passes. Perhaps it helped Caldara to play in a back-three; the 24-year-old spent the majority of his time at Atalanta in this formation. He had troubles adapting to a back-four earlier in the season and it may not be ideal to force him to adjust in the last matches of the campaign. The problem is that the rest of his teammates seem to struggle in any formation with a back-three.

Racism mars buildup to Coppa Italia

The events that led up to the semifinal second leg were sickening. A small minority of Lazio fans displayed a pro-Mussolini banner and made fascist salutes in the piazza where Mussolini was strung up and hanged. Another collection of fans were heard making racist chants against Tiemoue Bakayoko outside the San Siro. Another fan inside the stadium waved an inflatable banana. The police are apparently investigating what happened, but the lack of action continues to define Italy as a country.