Milan can have no excuses for their heavy Supercoppa Italiana loss to Inter and must now "grow up and take responsibility", according to defender Simon Kjaer.
Stefano Pioli's side were on the end of a 3-0 loss at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Wednesday as fierce rivals Inter retained the cup.
It is the first time since Juventus' 4-0 win over Lazio in 2013 that the contest between the reigning Scudetto and Coppa Italia holders has been won by a three-or-more goal margin.
The Rossoneri were also eliminated from the Coppa Italia at the last-16 stage by Torino last week and are nine points behind leaders Napoli in Serie A after drawing their past two games.
After ending the club's 11-year wait for Scudetto glory last year with a team that had the youngest average age of any title winner across Europe's top five leagues, Kjaer accepts there is no explanation for their current form.
"We got off to a bad start, then it became difficult," Kjaer, who was recalled to the starting line-up, told Milan TV. "They are good at what they do, but tonight we didn't put in the performance to deserve the win.
"We have to apologise to the fans. We have to analyse this match and then start again. There is no time to put our heads down but this match hurts.
"The talk of young players lacking experience is over. We have to grow up and take responsibility. We have not played with our identity and we have to learn and look carefully at our mistakes.
"It was a tough evening, especially mentally, but in these moments we have to find our identity and we have to improve in many aspects of the game."
Inter became the first side since Roma in 2006 to score twice in the opening 25 minutes of a Supercoppa Italiana clash, with goals from Federico Dimarco and Edin Dzeko putting them in control.
Milan's defence was far too easily beaten for both goals, as was the case when Lautaro Martinez added a third in the second half after getting the better of Fikayo Tomori.
Now on their longest winless run since February 2021, Pioli admits something has to change in terms of the team dynamic.
"We've missed out on one trophy but there is still lots of the season to turn it into a positive one," he said at his post-match press conference.
"But if we want different results, a little bit needs changing from a mental point of view and the way we approach matches. We play Lazio next and can go back to playing our football.
"The aim is to get back to being a team with confidence. We need to think about raising the quality of our game."
Celtics make statement with 41-point demolition of Bucks, Ingram bullies Nuggets
The Boston Celtics produced a stunning 140-99 blowout on the road against the full-strength Milwaukee Bucks in Thursday's potential Eastern Conference Finals preview.
Although the Bucks did roll out their full team, they were playing their third game in four days and were on the second leg of a back-to-back, and their fatigue showed in a horrible first half defensively.
The Celtics piled on 34 points in the first quarter, and added another 41 in the second to open up a commanding 75-47 lead at half-time. Instead of coming out of the locker room with extra intensity, the Bucks proceeded to give up another 39 in the third period to kill the game.
Boston's All-Star duo were nearly faultless, led by Jayson Tatum's 40 points on 12-of-18 shooting. He finished eight-of-10 from three-point range, and a perfect eight-of-eight from the free throw line while adding eight rebounds and zero turnovers.
Jaylen Brown was just as impressive as he made his way to 30 points on 13-of-20 shooting with five rebounds, five assists and just one turnover, while Sixth Man of the Year candidate Malcolm Brogdon chipped in 14 points (six-of-13), five assists and four steals off the bench.
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo led his side with 24 points and seven rebounds through three quarters before sitting out the last, although he was a disappointing 11-of-27 from the field and missed all five of his three-point attempts.
The win pulled the Celtics (53-24) to within two games of the Bucks (55-22) in the race for the Eastern Conference's top seed, and for the best record in the league.
Ingram shows recent improvement is no fluke
New Orleans Pelicans wing Brandon Ingram has performed at an All-NBA level since the All-Star break and continued to shine in a 107-88 triumph over the Nikola Jokic-less Denver Nuggets.
Ingram, 25, posted the first triple-double of his career last Thursday and followed it with a career-high 13 assists on Saturday, and he now has his second triple-double after 31 points (13-of-22), 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Nuggets.
Across his past eight games, Ingram is averaging 29.6 points, 8.3 assists and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 51.8 per cent from the field and 48 per cent from deep.
The result improved the Pelicans' record to 39-38, leapfrogging the Minnesota Timberwolves into the Western Conference's seventh seed, with Zion Williamson's return potentially imminent after working out on-court prior to Thursday's game.
Rybakina books place in Miami Open final after extending winning streak to 13
Elena Rybakina is now one win away from completing the Sunshine Double after defeating Jessica Pegula 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 in Thursday's Miami Open semi-final.
Only four women have ever claimed the Sunshine Double – which requires winning both the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open. Steffi Graf did it in both 1994 and 1996, Kim Clijsters did it in 2005, Victoria Azarenka accomplished the feat in 2016 and current world number one Iga Swiatek did it just 12 months ago.
Rybakina sent a message to the tennis world as she knocked out both world number one Iga Swiatek and world number two Aryna Sabalenka to take home the Indian Wells crown, and she has carried that form into Miami.
After prevailing in three-setters against Anna Kalinskaya and Paula Badosa, the Kazakhstan representative has now rattled off consecutive straight sets victories against Elise Mertens, Martina Trevisan and Pegula to extend her winning streak to 13 matches.
Against Pegula, Rybakina served 11 aces to the American's one, and in the process she became the first woman to serve at least 10 aces during five matches in the same tournament since Serena Williams back at Wimbledon in 2016.
By securing the first-set tiebreaker, Rybakina claimed her tour-leading seventh tiebreaker win of the season, with a perfect 7-0 record.
She will meet the winner between Petra Kvitova and Sorana Cirstea in the final after the Czech veteran emerged victorious 6-4 3-6 6-3 in her quarter-final against Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The neck-and-neck contest saw Kvitova only narrowly edge the total point count 96-91, but she created nine break points to Alexandrova's six.
Kvitova, 33, is now one win away from her 41st WTA singles final, where she would be seeking her 30th WTA title, and her ninth at the WTA 1000 level. It would be her first at this level since the 2018 Madrid Open, following defeats in the finals of the 2019 Dubai Championships, the 2020 Qatar Open and the 2022 Cincinnati Open.
Alcaraz continues quest for Sunshine Double with Fritz win, Medvedev and Khachanov progress
World number one Carlos Alcaraz made it 10 wins in a row in Miami and kept alive his hopes of a rare Sunshine Double as he beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in Thursday's quarter-finals.
Alcaraz swept aside the 2022 Indian Wells champion 6-4 6-2 in a lopsided Miami Open contest which lasted only 79 minutes, with the Spaniard breaking Fritz in the opening game of both sets.
Both players hit 20 winners, including 11 each on their respective forehands, but Fritz almost doubled Alcaraz' unforced errors count (28-13).
The 19-year-old was impressive from the baseline and overwhelmed Fritz in the end. The American only won 38 per cent on his second serve.
Alcaraz, who won the Indian Wells title a fortnight ago, remains on track to become the eighth male to win the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami), with Roger Federer the last to achieve that in 2017.
The Spaniard would join Federer (2005, 2006, 2017), Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016), Andre Agassi (2001), Marcelo Rios (1998), Pete Sampras (1994), Michael Chang (1992) and Jim Courier (1991) in achieving the Sunshine Double.
Alcaraz will take on Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, after the duo faced off in the Indian Wells last four a fortnight ago, with the Spaniard winning in straight sets.
In-form Daniil Medvedev progressed to the semi-finals with a 6-3 7-5 victory over American qualifier Chrstopher Eubanks, who had enjoyed a dream run in Miami.
Medvedev has a 27-3 record this season and will pursue a fifth straight ATP Tour final when he takes on compatriot Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals.
Khachanov, who made this year's Australian Open semi-finals, defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-3 6-2 in 76 minutes.
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