Cristian Brocchi began his tenure as AC Milan coach by steering the struggling Serie A giants to their first win in six games, then paid thanks to Sinisa Mihajlovic after replacing the Serbian last week.
Brocchi promptly ditched Mihajlovic’s 4-4-2 to deploy a 4-3-1-2 with Giacomo Bonaventura playing just behind Mario Balotelli and Carlos Bacca, and it ultimately paid dividends in a frenetic 1-0 win at Sampdoria that kept Milan’s hopes of European football on track.
Colombian international Carlos Bacca spurned several chances before breaking the deadlock on 71 minutes to end a five-game winless streak and hand Brocchi his first win as a coach in Serie A.
Brocchi said he had not received a congratulatory phone call from club president Silvio Berlusconi, but told Premium Sport: "I said thanks to the team for everything they gave me tonight, they left everything out there on the pitch.
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“I also want to thank Sinisa, who sent me a message to congratulate me on the victory. That’s a sign of his class, and I’m thankful for it.”
On-loan Liverpool striker Balotelli had recently fought his way back into Mihajlovic's starting line-up, and the former Italy international – who is set to miss Euro 2016 – impressed his new coach at the club.
“He was fantastic,” added Brocchi. “All he was missing was a goal.”
Despite several free kick efforts going off target, it was a largely positive display from the former bad boy of Italian and English football – although Bacca was Sampdoria’s biggest problem in a frenetic game at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
After Bacca came close on seven minutes, Sampdoria had a goal chalked off when Fabio Quagliarella was ruled offside having nodded Fernando’s spectacular overhead kick into the path of Dodo, who tapped past Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the net.
Samp keeper Emiliano Viviano produced an incredible point-blank stop on Bacca following Balotelli’s glancing header, while Donnarumma did well to stop Fernando’s vicious drive just before the interval.
Bacca saw his attempted chip over Viviano deflected by the keeper on the hour, then Juraj Kucka fired wide of the far post after a great build-up with Bacca.
Bacca eventually broke the deadlock on 71 minutes to take his league tally for the season to 15, tied with Juventus striker Paulo Dybala but 15 behind 30-goal Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain.
Milan remain in sixth place with a four-point lead on Sassuolo and Lazio, with Sampdoria in 15th at only six points above the drop zone.
Having missed out on Champions League qualification, it leaves Brocchi's side with two chances to qualify for the Europa League.
Milan face Juventus in the final of the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup), with the winner earning a Europa League spot. Since Juve have already secured a Champions League spot, cup final victory on May 21 would give the spot to Serie A’s sixth place finisher.
Brocchi is Milan’s fourth coach since current Juventus handler Massimiliano Allegri was sacked in January 2014, following in the footsteps of Clarence Seedorf, Filippo Inzaghi and Mihajlovic.
All were sacked when failing to live up to Berlusconi’s expectations, but he wants to show he is worth more than his initial six-month deal.
“I’ve achieved my dream of becoming coach of Milan,” added Brocchi. “Now I want to earn the chance to keep on working here.”
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