It was another chance wasted by Milan to make their claim for the title and with it Milan’s title hopes would appear all but over now. Sure, mathematically Milan still have a chance but considering the difficult few rounds Milan face along with their far from impressive performances of late, the unlikely dream of Milan winning the title can be put to rest.

It is an unfortunate situation Milan find themselves in for this is a team that for the most part of this season has done more than what was expected of them by fans and the media alike. For, as is always pointed out, this is a Milan side severely lacking depth and quality and one that is in dire need of reinforcements.

Nonetheless, despite the numerous and omnipresent issues afflicting the side, this season Milan have defied expectations under the guidance of wonder rookie coach Leonardo. Few Milan fans would have thought that come this stage of the season Milan would only be four points off the top of the table and still with a chance, if only slim, of winning the Scudetto.

But, following the completion of round 33 Milan find themselves in third position with a mathematical chance at least of winning the Scudetto, though the chances of Milan doing so appears unlikely.

What is just so unfortunate about this situation Milan find themselves in and particularly Leo and his squad, is that if the Milan board had just done their job and invested in the side like what was needed to during last summer, this Milan side could well be in a better position still to win the Scudetto, maybe top of the table and still in Europe.

What is for sure is that even one or two more significant signings would have made Milan that much more competitive and perhaps Milan would be real challengers still for major honours.

This is the real disappointment for the players and coach can definitely not be faulted. For one, Leo has done an absolutely marvellous job in his first season as a coach. It was a gamble of high stakes by the Milan board to bring in Leo as head coach in what was/is a time of great difficulty for one of the greatest clubs in the world. But Leo, despite a shaky start, has done wonders with the little resources provided to him.

Second, the players can hardly be faulted. Not even the players that have performed miserably can even be faulted. Here I refer to the likes of Gattuso, Oddo, Favalli and Jankulovski. Such players cannot be expected to perform to any competitive standard on a consistent basis when they are either way past their prime, or were never that good to start with, or both.

For Milan, the biggest threat to their season was always the lack of depth of their own squad. The last few weeks have been crucial to the title race and Milan’s already precarious squad has been ravaged by injuries including injuries to two of our best players, Nesta and Pato.

As a result, Milan have failed to perform and results have not come and with it Milan’s title chances have been slowly dissipating and all because there is not a sufficient enough squad. All because the Milan board have not done their job in providing their coach with a group of players capable, even in the event of injury and/or absence of a few, of seriously challenging for major honours.

This is the reason why Milan are not still in the title race, not because they did not perform and collect all three points against Catania at home. And this is what is the real disappointment.

Though, on the subject of Milan’s performance against Catania, it is worthy to note Borriello’s fine contribution to the Milan cause. Though not his biggest fan, I admit, when a striker scores a brace that brings his team back into the game and possibly the title race, he has warranted praise.

Keeping on the same topic, the performance of the officiating was laughable. Milan were denied at least one genuine penalty whilst Ronaldinho was pushed and pulled all game yet the referee hardly called a foul for him. The decision to let play continue after Huntelaar was physically wrestled off the ball which then led to Catania’s second goal was also a very poor decision by the referee.

I do not usually get cross over poor referring decisions for normally I accept them as just part of the game if and only if they appear to be evenly split between the two sides. Against Catania, however, Milan’s attackers were not properly protected by the referee and as a result the Catania defenders wrestled, pulled and pushed all game.

Though Milan’s title chances might appear over for now, the thing about football is that you really never know what is going to happen. For this reason, it will be interesting to watch Milan over the next few weeks to see it there is one final twist in what has been a roller-coaster of a season.