In their final redemption battle of the season, AC Milan disappointed again as they lost 0-1 to Bologna in the Italian Cup final, missing out on the championship and putting their hopes of qualifying for next season's European competition in jeopardy.

The decisive moment of the match came in the 53rd minute when Swiss winger Dan N'Doye calmly dribbled past a defender in the Milan penalty area before firing home the winner for Bologna, giving the Bianconeri their first major trophy since winning the Intertoto Cup in 1998.

In the first half of the game, both sides attacked and defended, but they were unable to break the opponent's goal. The referee showed three yellow cards in the first half, one of which was slightly controversial. It was awarded to American international Christian Pulisic, who was given a yellow card warning for suspected fouls in the fight. Pulisic started the game and played for 88 minutes. His performance was mediocre. He only touched the ball 33 times in the whole game, and only appeared in the opponent's penalty area once. Another American international Yunus Musa sat on the bench and did not get a chance to play in the whole game.

Milan tried to counterattack in the second half, but they were unable to create a chance more threatening than N'Doye's goal. N'Doye not only scored the key goal, but also created the most chances in the game with 3, and was also the player who was fouled the most (4 times), so he deservedly won the title of the best player of the game.

This defeat is a huge blow to Milan. As the Italian Cup champion will qualify for the Europa League next season, Milan is currently ranked eighth in the league with only two games left. They are three points behind sixth-placed Roma, four points behind fourth-placed Juventus and fifth-placed Lazio, and their promotion situation is no longer in their hands.

However, Milan will directly challenge rival Roma next, which will be a crucial match to determine their fate. They will then host Monza at home in the season finale, but whether they can reach the last round with hope remains unknown.