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Brocchi acknowledges AC Milan job is a 'risky' one

CARNAGO, Italy (AP) - With only six matches remaining in Serie A, AC Milan coach Cristian Brocchi doesn't have much time to make an impact.

In sixth place, Milan is without a win in its past five matches and in danger of failing to qualify for Europe for a third straight season.

"There is a risk. But you've got to have the humility to understand that if things go poorly, it's going to go the way things have gone before," Brocchi said at his presentation Wednesday after being hired to replace the fired Sinisa Mihajlovic until the end of the season.

Having coached Milan's youth squad, this is the first senior managing position for Brocchi, a former Milan player.

"I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity with the utmost desire and humility," Brocchi said. "I'm not afraid."

Mihajlovic joined Milan from Sampdoria in June and steered the team to its first Italian Cup final in 13 years. The Rossoneri meet Juventus for the title May 21.

"Sinisa did a good job and obtained good results but we thought that we needed something different now," Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said. "We all hope that Brocchi remains Milan's coach next season, too. Otherwise he'll return to the youth team. He'll stay at Milan."

Galliani rejected speculation that he differed with Milan president Silvio Berlusconi over Mihajlovic's firing.

"For more than 30 years, Berlusconi and I have been discussing and debating with each other," Galliani said. "We each express our own opinion, we make a common decision and then we all go in the same direction. The club is one."

Brocchi becomes Milan's fifth coach in little more than two years. It is the 40-year-old Italian's first senior coaching role.

Milan last promoted a youth team coach two years ago. Filippo Inzaghi lasted a year, then was fired and replaced by Mihajlovic.

Brocchi, who also played for Inter, won the Champions League twice as well as the Italian league and cup in a seven-year spell at Milan from 2001-08.

The last Milan coach to spend more than a year in the job was Massimiliano Allegri, who was fired in January 2014. Allegri went on to take over at Juventus that July, steering the Bianconeri to the Italian league and cup double and to the Champions League final in his first season in charge.

Brocchi will make his debut at Sampdoria on Sunday.

FILE -- In this Saturday, May 19, 2007 file photo, AC Milan's Christian Brocchi controls the ball during an Italian major league soccer match against Udinese at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy. AC Milan has fired coach Sinisa Mihajlovic and replaced him with youth team coach Cristian Brocchi until the end of the season. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) The Associated Press
FILE -- In This Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015 file photo, AC Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic waits for the start of a Serie A soccer match between Carpi and AC Milan at Modena's Braglia stadium, Italy. AC Milan has fired coach Sinisa Mihajlovic and replaced him with youth team coach Cristian Brocchi until the end of the season. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini) The Associated Press
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