1971–72 AC Milan season

Semifinals
Top goalscorer	League: Alberto Bigon (14); All: Alberto Bigon (19)
Average home league attendance	46,130
Home colours	Away colours
	← 1970–71 1972–73 →

During the 1971–1972 season Milan Associazione Calcio competed in Serie A, Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup.

Summary

Nereo Rocco was confirmed as coach of the team for the 1971–72 season. During the transfer market, Giuseppe Sabadini, Riccardo Sogliano and Alberto Bigon were signed, while, after 13 years in Milan Giovanni Trapattoni left the club, ending his career at Varese. The full-back Aldo Maldera, Luigi's younger brother, was also added to the team for the first time.^[2]

The season began with four group games in the first round of the Coppa Italia, where Milan got three wins (with Monza, Novara and Mantova) and a draw (with Catania), closing the group in first place with 7 points and thus qualifying for the second round, which would be played at the end of the season in June.

In the league, Milan suffered only two defeat in the first half of the season, both on home ground; the first at home against Juventus FC and the second against newly promoted Mantova, and finished in second position with 22 points, two less than the Bianconeri. In the second half of the season, Milan lost three games and drew the head-to-head clash with Juventus, and concluded the championship in second place with 42 points, tied with Torino, not without violent controversy for two episodes. The first, in the match against Juventus in Turin, when the referee Lo Bello did not concede a penalty to Milan, famously admitting, later on, on live tv, his mistake.^[3]^[4] The second, in the away game against Cagliari, when a contested penalty was awarded to the home team by referee Alberto Michelotti at the 87th minute, thus granting Cagliari the 2–1 win. Milan captain Gianni Rivera vehemently and publicly protested against such decision, with the consequence of being disqualified for three and a half months, thus ending his season.^[5] The Rossoneris defense, with 17 goals conceded, was the least beaten of the whole competition.

In the new

UEFA Cup, which replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Milan eliminated the Cypriots Digenis Akritas Morphou in the round of 64 (4–0 in the first leg in Milan and 3- 0 in the return in Trieste), in the round of 32 the West Germans of Hertha Berlin (4–2 win at home and 2–1 away defeat), in the round of 16 the Scottish team Dundee (win 3–0 at home and 2–0 away defeat) and in the quarter-finals the Belgian side Lierse (2–0 in Milan and 1–1 in Lier). In the semifinals, the Rossoneri faced English side Tottenham, who went through to the final thanks to the 2–1 victory obtained in London and the 1–1 draw at San Siro

. This semifinal (also reached in the 2001–02 edition) is the best placement obtained by Milan in this competition.

The season ended with the aforementioned remaining matches in the Coppa Italia: Milan, in the group with Torino, Inter and Juventus, achieved four wins (two against Inter and two against Juventus) and two draws, and qualified for the final, where they faced Napoli. At the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Milan beat the Neapolitans 2–0 with an own goal from Panzanato and a goal from Rosato in the second half, thus conquering the trophy for the second time in their history, and earning the qualification to the next UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ITA	Pierangelo Belli
—	GK	ITA	Fabio Cudicini
—	GK	ITA	Villiam Vecchi
—	DF	ITA	Angelo Anquilletti
—	DF	ITA	Cesare Cattaneo
—	DF	ITA	Giulio Zignoli
—	DF	ITA	Luigi Maldera
—	DF	ITA	Roberto Rosato
—	DF	ITA	Aldo Maldera
—	DF	ITA	Giuseppe Sabadini
—	DF	ITA	Luciano Monticolo
—	DF	GER	Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (vice-captain)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ITA	Vincenzo Zazzaro
—	MF	ITA	Pier Paolo Scarrone
—	MF	ITA	Romeo Benetti
—	MF	ITA	Giorgio Biasiolo
—	MF	ITA	Guido Magherini
—	MF	ITA	Gianni Rivera (Captain)
—	MF	ITA	Riccardo Sogliano
—	FW	ITA	Lino Golin
—	FW	ITA	Alberto Bigon
—	FW	ITA	Pierino Prati
—	FW	ITA	Silvano Villa
—	FW	ITA	Carlo Tresoldi

Transfers

Summer

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
DF	Giuseppe Sabadini	Sampdoria
DF	Nello Santin	Vicenza	loan end
MF	Guido Magherini	Lazio	loan end
MF	Riccardo Sogliano	Varese
FW	Alberto Bigon	Foggia
FW	Lino Golin	Monza	loan end
DF	Luciano Monticolo	Catanzaro

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
DF	Nello Santin	Sampdoria
MF	Roberto Casone	Sampdoria	loan
MF	Giorgio Rognoni	Foggia
MF	Giovanni Trapattoni	Varese
FW	Nestor Combin	Metz
FW	Angelo Paina	Taranto
DF	Cesare Cattaneo	Taranto
DF	Luigi Maldera	Catanzaro

Competitions

Serie A

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Juventus (C)	30	17	9	4	48	24	+24	43	Qualification to European Cup
2	Milan	30	16	10	4	36	17	+19	42	Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup
3	Torino	30	17	8	5	39	25	+14	42	Qualification to UEFA Cup
4	Cagliari	30	15	9	6	39	23	+16	39
5	Internazionale	30	13	10	7	49	28	+21	36

Source: Panini
(C) Champions

Matches

3 October 1971 1	Varese	0–1	Milan	Varese
		Report	28' Prati	Stadium: Stadio Franco Ossola Attendance: 16,762 Referee: Angonese

17 October 1971 2	Milan	2–0	Fiorentina	Milano
	Bigon 27', 61'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 59,006 Referee: Toselli

24 October 1971 3	Lanerossi Vicenza	0–2	Milan	Vicenza
		Report	41' Prati 72' (pen.) Rivera	Stadium: Stadio Romeo Menti Attendance: 25,848 Referee: Lo Bello

31 October 1971 4	Milan	1–4	Juventus	Milano
	Bigon 58'	Report	16', 28' Bettega 39' Causio 88' Anastasi	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 79,197 Referee: Francescon

7 November 1971 5	Sampdoria	0–2	Milan	Genova
		Report	38' (pen.) Rivera 46' Prati	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 25,852 Referee: Barbaresco

14 November 1971 6	Milan	0–0	Cagliari	Milano
		Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 48,128 Referee: Angonese

28 November 1971 7	Inter	2–3	Milan	Milano
	Ghio 18' Boninsegna 42'	Report	2', 85' Bigon 30' Rivera	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 70,536 Referee: Lo Bello

5 December 1971 8	Milan	0–1	Mantova	Milano
		Report	87' Panizza	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 32,609 Referee: Serafino

12 December 1971 9	Bologna	0–2	Milan	Bologna
		Report	8', 46' Prati	Stadium: Stadio Comunale Attendance: 33,261 Referee: Pieroni

19 December 1971 10	Milan	3–0	Roma	Milano
	Bigon 35' Villa 82', 83'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 34,243 Referee: Lo Bello

26 December 1971 11	Milan	2–0	Verona	Milano
	Bigon 2', 19'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 28,221 Referee: Trinchieri

2 January 1972 12	Torino	0–0	Milan	Torino
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Comunale Attendance: 32,323 Referee: Barbaresco

9 January 1972 13	Napoli	0–0	Milan	Napoli
		Report		Stadium: Stadio San Paolo Attendance: 78,886 Referee: Pieroni

16 January 1972 14	Milan	1–0	Atalanta	Milano
	Sogliano 62'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 36,061 Referee: Mascali

23 January 1972 15	Catanzaro	0–0	Milan	Catanzaro
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Comunale Attendance: 16,624 Referee: Angonese

30 January 1972 16	Milan	3–1	Varese	Milano
	Benetti 48' Villa 58' Dellagiovanna 88' (og)	Report	54' (og) Sabadini	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 31,884 Referee: Calì

6 February 1972 17	Fiorentina	2–0	Milan	Firenze
	Clerici 48' (pen.) Anquilletti 54' (og)	Report		Stadium: Stadio Comunale Attendance: 50,677 Referee: Lattanzi

13 February 1972 18	Milan	1–1	Lanerossi Vicenza	Milano
	Benetti 54'	Report	73' Maraschi	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 40,293 Referee: Toselli

20 February 1972 19	Juventus	1–1	Milan	Torino
	Salvadore 78'	Report	32' Bigon	Stadium: Stadio Comunale Attendance: 66,344 Referee: Lo Bello

27 February 1972 20	Milan	0–0	Sampdoria	Milano
		Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 32,173 Referee: Giunti

12 March 1972 21	Cagliari	2–1	Milan	Cagliari
	Gori 6' Riva 87' (pen.)	Report	47' Bigon	Stadium: Stadio Sant'Elia Attendance: 46,184 Referee: Michelotti

19 March 1972 22	Milan	1–1	Inter	Milano
	Benetti 53'	Report	84' Boninsegna	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 77,995 Referee: Angonese

26 March 1972 23	Mantova	0–0	Milan	Mantova
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Danilo Martelli Attendance: 14,755 Referee: Francescon

2 April 1972 24	Milan	1–0	Bologna	Milano
	Golin 46'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 38,141 Referee: Pieroni

9 April 1972 25	Roma	1–2	Milan	Roma
	Cappellini 45'	Report	47' Bigon 64' Golin	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 65,535 Referee: Angonese

16 April 1972 26	Verona	1–1	Milan	Verona
	Mariani 51'	Report	37' Bigon	Stadium: Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi Attendance: 27,495 Referee: Pieroni

23 April 1972 27	Milan	1–0	Torino	Milano
	Benetti 46' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 61,432 Referee: Toselli

7 May 1972 28	Milan	3–0	Napoli	Milano
	Prati 14' Villa 50' Biasiolo 58'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 43,637 Referee: Angonese

21 May 1972 29	Atalanta	0–1	Milan	Bergamo
		Report	55' Bigon	Stadium: Stadio Comunale Attendance: 20,592 Referee: Giunti

28 May 1972 30	Milan	1–0	Catanzaro	Milano
	Bigon 23'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 44,281 Referee: Pieroni

Coppa Italia

First round

29 August 1971 1	Monza	0–1	Milan	Monza
			14' Prati	Stadium: Stadio Gino Alfonso Sada Attendance: 11,500 Referee: Gussoni

8 September 1971 2	Milan	2–0	Novara	Milano
	Biasiolo 40' Bigon 42'			Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 19,150 Referee: Ciacci

12 September 1971 3	Milan	2–0	Mantova	Milano
	Prati 6' Bigon 54'			Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 21,102 Referee: Giunti

19 September 1971 4	Catania	1–1	Milan	Catania
	Baisi 47'		79' Prati	Stadium: Stadio Cibali Attendance: 12,841 Referee: Toselli

Second round

4 June 1972 1	Torino	0–0	Milan	Torino
				Stadium: Stadio Comunale Attendance: 23,706 Referee: Menegali

7 June 1972 2	Milan	1–0	Inter	Milano
	Sabadini 43'			Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 37,860 Referee: Gonella

11 June 1972 3	Juventus	0–1	Milan	Torino
			27' Prati	Stadium: Stadio Comunale Attendance: 7,675 Referee: Toselli

25 June 1972 4	Milan	1–1	Torino	Milano
	Benetti 68' (pem.)		25' Puia	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 14,994 Referee: Pieroni

28 June 1972 5	Inter	0–1	Milan	Milano
			28' Bigon	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 26,307 Referee: Bernardis

1 July 1972 6	Milan	3–2	Juventus	Milano
	Rivera 13' (rig.), 73' Piloni 18' (og)		34' Novellini 44' Haller	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Giunti

Final

5 July 1972	Milan	2–0	Napoli	Roma
	Panzanato 49' (og) Rosato 78'			Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 50,745 Referee: Toselli

Coppa UEFA

Round of 64

22 September 1971 1	Milan	4–0	Digenis Akritas Morphou	Milano
	Villa 32', 60' Magherini 34' Golin 50'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 9,826 Referee: Cassar Naudi

29 September 1971 2	Digenis Akritas Morphou	0–3	Milan	Trieste
		Report	11', 77' Villa 65' Rivera	Stadium: Stadio Giuseppe Grezar^[6] Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Stavrev

Round of 32

20 October 1971 1	Milan	4–2	Hertha Berlin	Milano
	Prati 41', 85' Benetti 62' Biasiolo 65'	Report	15' Steffenhagen 51' Beer	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 16,633 Referee: Marschall

3 November 1971 2	Hertha Berlin	2–1	Milan	Berlino Ovest
	Horr 15' (pen.), 89'	Report	13' Bigon	Stadium: Olympiastadion Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Carpenter^[7]

Round of 16

24 November 1971 2	Milan	3–0	Dundee	Milano
	Rivera 14' Stewart 50' (og) Benetti 71'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 14,230 Referee: Michas

8 December 1971 2	Dundee	2–0	Milan	Dundee
	Wallace 39' Duncan 74'	Report		Stadium: Dens Park Attendance: 19,000 Referee: Wurtz

Quarterfinals

23 February 1972 1	Milan	2–0	Lierse	Milano
	Rivera 30' (pen.) Bigon 43'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 23,316 Referee: Babacan

7 March 1972 2	Lierse	1–1	Milan	Lier
	Vermeyen 86' (pen.)	Report	47' Villa	Stadium: Herman Vanderpoortenstadion Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Ortiz de Mendibil

Semifinals

5 April 1972 1	Tottenham	2–1	Milan	Londra
	Perryman 33', 64'	Report	25' Benetti	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Medina

19 April 1972 2	Milan	1–1	Tottenham	Milano
	Rivera 69' (pen.)	Report	7' Mullery	Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 68,492 Referee: Loraux

Statistics

Squad statistics

Competition^[8]	Points	Home						Away						Total						GD
Competition^[8]	Points	G	W	D	L	Gs	Ga	G	W	D	L	Gs	Ga	G	W	D	L	Gs	Ga	GD
1971-72 Serie A	42	15	9	4	2	20	8	15	7	6	2	16	9	30	16	10	4	36	17	+19
1971-72 Coppa Italia	–	5	4	1	0	9	3	5	3	2	0	4	1	11	8	3	0	15	4	+11
1971-72 UEFA Cup	–	5	4	1	0	14	3	5	1	1	3	6	7	10	5	2	3	20	10	+10
Total	–	25	17	6	2	43	14	25	11	9	5	26	17	51	29	15	7	71	31	+40

Players statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Serie A		Coppa Italia		UEFA Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	DF	ITA	Angelo Anquilletti	48	0	28	0	10	0	10	0
	DF	ITA	Cesare Cattaneo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	ITA	Pierangelo Belli	0	0	0	-0	0	-0	0	-0
	MF	ITA	Giuseppe Sabadini	50	1	29	0	11	1	10	0
	GK	ITA	Fabio Cudicini	50	-29	30	-17	10	-2	10	-10
	MF	ITA	Giorgio Biasiolo	34	3	20	1	8	1	6	1
	MF	ITA	Guido Magherini	9	1	2	0	6	0	1	1
	FW	ITA	Lino Golin	21	3	9	2	7	0	5	1
	MF	ITA	Pier Paolo Scarrone	7	0	2	0	3	0	2	0
	FW	ITA	Alberto Bigon	48	19	29	14	11	3	8	2
	MF	ITA	Vincenzo Zazzaro	16	0	11	0	0	0	5	0
	DF	ITA	Romeo Benetti	45	8	29	4	7	1	9	3
	DF	ITA	Luigi Maldera	4	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
	DF	ITA	Giulio Zignoli	35	0	20	0	7	0	8	0
	FW	ITA	Pierino Prati	39	12	21	6	11	4	7	2
	MF	ITA	Gianni Rivera	37	9	23	3	6	2	8	4
	DF	ITA	Aldo Maldera	4	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
	FW	ITA	Silvano Villa	30	9	18	4	5	0	7	5
	DF	GER	Karl-Heinz Schnellinger	45	0	26	0	10	0	9	0
	MF	ITA	Riccardo Sogliano	44	1	28	1	9	0	7	0
	MF	ITA	Luciano Monticolo	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	ITA	Carlo Tresoldi	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	GK	ITA	Villiam Vecchi	2	-2	1	-0	1	-2	0	0

Source: ^[9]

References

^ "Attendance Statistics of Serie A". stadiapostcards.com. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
^ "Calciomercato Milan 1971–72". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
^ "Quando gli arbitri si scusavano. Il primo fu Lo Bello". sport.sky.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
^ "Juventus, una fetta di scudetto in più". archiviolastampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
^ "Rivera, confermata la squalifica". archiviolastampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
^ Game played in Trieste on request of Digenis Akritas Morphou
^ Panini, p. 367.
^ "Milan Associazione Calcio 1971–72". magliarossonera.it. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
^ "Milan Associazione Calcio 1971–72". magliarossonera.it. Retrieved 26 May 2023.

Bibliography

Panini (ed.). Almanacco illustrato del Milan, ed: 2, March 2005.
Enrico Tosi. La storia del Milan, May 2005. Italia/Italy cid Tosi.
Milan. Sempre con te, December 2009. Mondadori. 2009.
ISBN 978-88-04-59118-4
.

External links

"Stagione 1971-1972". Magliarossonera.it.

[1] "Attendance Statistics of Serie A". stadiapostcards.com. Retrieved 26 May 2023.

[2] "Calciomercato Milan 1971–72". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.

[3] "Quando gli arbitri si scusavano. Il primo fu Lo Bello". sport.sky.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.

[4] "Juventus, una fetta di scudetto in più". archiviolastampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.

[5] "Rivera, confermata la squalifica". archiviolastampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.

[6] Game played in Trieste on request of Digenis Akritas Morphou

[FOOTNOTEPanini367-7] Panini, p. 367.

[8] "Milan Associazione Calcio 1971–72". magliarossonera.it. Retrieved 26 May 2023.

[9] "Milan Associazione Calcio 1971–72". magliarossonera.it. Retrieved 26 May 2023.

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