Il Diavolo e’ all’inferno. The devil is in hell. So far, so perfectly normal one may think. Except that in footballing terms this is not where AC Milan expected to be this season.

Not when they hired Paulo Fonseca to replace Stefano Pioli in the summer amid grandiose promises of attacking football, which never materialised. Nor when they turfed out the Portuguese six months into his three-year deal in favour of Sergio Conceicao in December, or when they embarked on a January spending spree, a tacit admission their Moneyball approach in the summer had badly misfired.

But that is where Il Diavolo now finds itself, Sunday night’s defeat against Lazio leaving it nine points adrift of fourth place – potentially 11 points if Juventus beat Verona on Monday evening.

The loss to the Biancocelesti felt terminal for Milan and not just because it came via a 98th-minute penalty Pedro converted after a VAR check, nor because it was their third consecutive Serie A defeat but because this felt like the end of the road for Conceicao.

The Portuguese announced his rival with a celebratory cigar after Milan won the Supercoppa less than a week after he had replaced Fonseca, but the only things to have vanished in a puff of smoke over the past two months are his tactics and his grip on a team that can’t get out of its own way.

The sight of Joao Felix being named on the bench was surprising given the Chelsea loanee had started all but one of his seven previous appearances since joining in January. As if to acknowledge his own mistake, Conceicao brought him on with 37 minutes gone in place of Yunus Musah.

By then Milan were already trailing 1-0 to a goal from Mattia Zaccagni, who converted from close range after Mike Maignan could only parry a shot in his path.

Worse was still to come for the France international, who brought down Gustav Isaksen in the third minute of injury time to hand Lazio the chance to become only the third team after Napoli and Liverpool to beat Milan at home this season.

In between came Samuel Chukwueze’s brilliant equaliser, which briefly looked to have rescued a point for 10-man Milan, who had Strahinja Pavlovic sent off halfway through the second half.

Like most of what Milan do well, Chukwueze’s goal came out of nothing. As they were under Fonseca, the Rossoneri are stuck in a strange tactical no man’s land under Conceicao, a team that lives off moments and episodes.

“Watching Milan, I was struck by the excessive confusion and frenetic energy that led to a messy build-up,” Arrigo Sacchi wrote in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday.

“They switched between high and low tempo, but without any discernible tactical pattern.”

Sacchi may well have been talking about another giant of European that’s fallen on hard times, for there are similarities aplenty between Milan and Manchester United.

Like Conceicao, Ruben Amorim made waves in Portugal and emerged as one of the most promising young managers in Europe. Just like his compatriot, the 40-year-old is now having to second guess his tactical beliefs, with United players ill-suited to his preferred 3-4-3.

Similarly, nobody will understand Amorim’s frustration with his players’ lack of intensity more than Conceicao, who has pleaded with his players to run faster and longer since arriving at Milanello. The message has largely fallen on deaf ears.

Like United, Milan thrive on chaos. A curious paradox given both Conceicao and Amorim have built their managerial career on precise structures and patterns of play.

But then, just as is the case at Old Trafford where INEOS’ much vaunted overhaul of football operations has so far largely focused on endless cost-cutting measures forced by two decades of criminal financial mismanagement under the Glazers, Conceicao too is hamstrung by the club to a degree.

It is no surprise that confusion reigns on the pitch at the San Siro, for chaos has followed Milan off the pitch under RedBird. Parting ways with Stefano Pioli, who won the Scudetto three years ago, in favour of Fonseca was a gamble that never looked like coming off.

Similarly, the Americans’ Moneyball approach to signings has left more questions than answers. Balancing the books is crucial in the modern game, but a club of Milan’s history and pedigree simply cannot make do with not breaking the €30m (£25m) barrier on signings for two years.

Milan fans questioned RedBird’s lack of ambition earlier this season and made their feelings clear again on Sunday, with the ultras leaving the Curva Sud empty for the first 15 minutes. When they did show up, along with the rest of San Siro, they buried their team under a deluge of boos at half-time and urged Gerry Cardinale to “sell up and leave”.

Wishful thinking as that may be, it made for a mutinous atmosphere, which hardly helped a struggling team.

“The players sense the atmosphere surrounding the club,” Conceicao said.

“This is a new experience for me as a coach; the players are clearly feeling the pressure. We know that in situations like this, the tension is high, simple things become difficult. A dribble or a pass doesn’t come off, and you fall behind.”

When Conceicao lifted the Supercoppa in Saudi Arabia, it seemed logical to expect his six-month contract would be turned into a long-term deal. Now, it would not be a surprise to see him sacked before the end of the season even if Zlatan Ibrahimovic, RedBird’s chief football advisor, was non-committal on the Portuguese’s future.

“I’m not focused on next season; I’m living in the moment,” Conceicao said on Sunday. “The priority here is Milan, not Conceicao.”

The Rossoneri are still in the Coppa Italia with a two-legged Derby della Madonnina standing between them and a spot in the final against either Empoli or Bologna, but on current form the prospects of Conceicao lifting a second trophy appear very slim.

The devil appears to have run out of tricks.