By Andrew Cesare Richardson, ESPN writer
AC Milan’s players will spend the next five days sequestered at the club’s training centre after Gennaro Gattuso ordered a ritiro, as their place in next season’s Champions League is in serious jeopardy.
The decision will see the entire squad stay in the Milanello training ground until the next Serie A match, which is at home to 14th-place Bologna on Monday.
A disappointing run or results has led to intense speculation manager Gennaro Gattuso will leave his post before the start of next season.
Milan had been on a run of five-straight Serie A victories going into March’s local derby against Inter where a win would have seen them climb above their neighbours and into third place.
However, they were beaten 3-2 and have registered just one victory in the six subsequent league matches — with Sunday’s 2-0 defeat top four rivals Torino seeing them drop to sixth.
Meanwhile, they were also beaten by Lazio in the Coppa Italia semifinals.
Antonio Conte, who has been mooted as a potential replacement for Gattuso at Milan, was in the stands for the defeat at Torino.
A ritiro is a fairly common reaction to a poor run of form in Serie A. Roma were on lockdown in December, while Inter Milan underwent the same process after a poor run of form in April.