Allegri refuses to quit

Allegri employed a new 4-3-3 formation for its Champions League clash away to Malaga on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) and despite a late fightback the Italian giant succumbed to Joaquin Sanchez's second-half winner.

Milan's sixth defeat from 11 games in all competitions has underlined the ongoing task facing Allegri, who lost the spine of an experienced side in a busy northern summer transfer period.

And a report by the 7gold television network on Thursday claimed the club was set to lure former Rossonero Rijkaard from his post as coach of the Saudi Arabian national team.

Allegri - who led Milan to the league title in 2011 and a runner-up place behind Juventus last year - said he is not throwing in the towel.

"I'm not quitting, absolutely not," said Allegri.

"It's not my style to quit, and I have a lot of the faith in this squad. I think we can get back into the Serie A and the Champions League for us isn't over yet.

"It's a fairly balanced group."

Having drawn against Anderlecht at the San Siro and scored a morale-boosting win away to Zenit St Petersburg, Milan is now second in Group C on four points behind leader Malaga, which has nine.

In Serie A, however, Allegri's side sit in lowly sixth from bottom with only seven points from eight games.

Milan hosts Genoa on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) at the San Siro where it will be looking for its first win since a 2-0 victory over Cagliari a month ago.