History of AC Milan

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This is the history of

, Lombardy.

Foundation and early years

A.C. Milan was founded as Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club in 1899 by English expatriate Herbert Kilpin. The club claims 16 December of that year as their foundation date,^[1] but historical evidence seems to suggest that the club was actually founded a few days earlier, most likely on 13 December.^[2] However, with the club's charter being lost, the date remains debated. Alfred Edwards, was the club's first elected president, a former British vice-consul in Milan and a well-known personality of the Milanese high society. Initially, the team included a cricket section, managed by Edward Berra, and a football section, managed by Kilpin.

The official colours chosen were red and black. Immediately the team gained relevant notability under Kilpin's guidance. The first trophy to be won was the Medaglia del Re (King's Medal) in January 1900, and the team later won three national leagues, in 1901, 1906 and 1907. The triumph of 1901 was particularly relevant because it ended the consecutive series of wins of

, which had been the only team to have won prior to 1901.

The club proved successful in the first decade of its existence, with several important trophies won, including, among others, two more editions of the aforementioned Medaglia del Re,^[3] the Palla Dapples 23 times^[4] and the FGNI tournament five times, a competition organized by the Italian Gymnastics Federation but not officially recognized by the Italian Football Federation.^[5]

In 1908, issues over the signing of foreign players led to a split and the formation of F.C. Internazionale Milano, which caused one of the former Milan founders Giovanni Paramithiotti to become president of Internazionale Milano instead.

In 1909 Milan experienced its first change of ownership, when Piero Pirelli became club's new chairman. He would remain in charge for 19 years, until he resigned in 1928, for a record timespan, which Silvio Berlusconi had only beaten 80 years later.

1910–1949

In 1916, Milan won the Federal Cup, a national trophy that had replaced the Italian league, suspended because of World War I.^[6] This cup was never recognized as an Italian title. In the following two seasons, Milan won the most important tournaments in place during the war at a regional level (the national championship was still suspended): the Coppa Lombarda in 1917 and the Coppa Mauro in 1918,^[7] in this case after beating Inter in the decisive match with a historic 8-1 score.

In 1919, the team changed its name to Milan Football Club. After their first triumphs, Milan could not continue with their former high-level success, obtaining only a number of half-table placements, even if always playing in the top Italian division.

Two of the most critical players in this decade were the Belgian forward Louis Van Hege, who scored 97 goals in 88 official matches, and the defender Renzo De Vecchi, nicknamed il figlio di Dio (the son of God).

Between the two World Wars, despite always remaining in the first division, Milan never went beyond the third place, which was achieved in

in 1934 and 1938 as coach of the Italy national team, was hired as manager of the club. However, results were not positive, and after two seasons he was sacked.

In 1926, chairman Piero Pirelli built a new stadium exclusively for Milan to play in.^[8] The San Siro became the only home of Milan from that moment onwards. The stadium was inaugurated with a derby against Inter, won with a 6-3 final score. Among the Rossoneri's scorers of that day was Giuseppe Santagostino, one of the most relevant players of the club in the 1920s: he scored 103 goals in 233 appearances.

The 1930s marked Milan's debut in international competitions, with the participation to the 1938 Mitropa Cup. Between 1935 and 1939 Milan reached four consecutive Coppa Italia semifinals, with as many eliminations.

The most important player of the decade was Aldo Boffi, who was three times top scorer of the Serie A (in 1938-39, 1939–40 and 1941–42) and who scored a total of 136 goals for Milan, which made him the 5th all-time top scorer of the club.

In 1939, the fascist regime imposed a new italianized name, Associazione Calcio Milano, for the team. However, that name was partly abandoned after World War II, but the initial part was maintained: the team was called Associazione Calcio Milan, which remains the club's current official name.

1950s

In the post-war period, Milan was always among the top three Italian teams in the Serie A standings (with the exception of a 4th place in 1946–47), and won the Scudetto in 1951, the first time since 1907. Il Grande Milan included the famous "Gre-No-Li", a trio of Swedish players composed by Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm, all previous Olympic winners. That team also fielded quality players such as Lorenzo Buffon, Cesare Maldini and Carlo Annovazzi. Domestically, Milan won the Serie A title also in 1955, 1957 and 1959. Between the 1947–48 and 1956–57 seasons, Milan always finished amongst the top three clubs in the league table. One of the most resounding victory of this period was the 7–1 win against Juventus in Turin on 5 February 1950, with Gunnar Nordahl scoring a hat-trick.

Béla Guttmann was appointed manager of A.C. Milan in 1953. Guttmann had them top of Serie A 19 games into his second season in charge when a string of disputes with the board led to his dismissal. He later told a stunned press conference "I have been sacked even though I am neither a criminal nor a homosexual. Goodbye."^[9][10] From then on he insisted on a clause in his contract that he could not be sacked if his team were top of the table.^[10]

This decade witnessed also the first European successes of Milan, with the triumphs in the

.

1960s

Ghezzi Benitez Trebbi Maldini (C) David Trapattoni Sani Rivera Pivatelli Altafini Mora 1963 European Cup Final starting lineup

Cudicini Schnellinger Rosato Anquilletti Malatrasi Hamrin Lodetti Trapattoni Sormani Rivera (C) Prati 1969 European Cup Final starting lineup

Milan returned to win a football league in 1961–62 under manager Nereo Rocco, an innovative football coach known as the inventor of the catenaccio tactic. The team included a young Gianni Rivera and José Altafini. The following season, in large part due to Altafini's prolific goal-scoring, Milan won their first European Cup (later known as UEFA Champion League) by defeating Portugal's Benfica 2–1. This also marked the first time an Italian team won the European Cup.

Despite the successes of the decade's early years, Milan won fewer trophies throughout the 1960s, mainly because of the heavy competition of Helenio Herrera's Internazionale, Milan's city rivals. Its next Scudetto arrived only in 1967–68 through the offense output of Pierino Prati, the Serie A's top-scorer that season, as well as the European Cup Winners' Cup, won against Hamburger SV thanks to the two goals of Kurt Hamrin. In the next season, Milan won its second European Cup, 4–1 over Ajax, and in 1969 won its first Intercontinental Cup after defeating Argentina's Estudiantes La Plata in two dramatic legs (3–0, 1–2).

1970s

In the 1970s, Milan won three

on the last day of the season.

Milan had to wait until

, at his first full season with the club.

After this success, the team went into a period of decline. The club in

1980s

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In 1980–81, Milan handily won the Serie B championship, ensuring a swift return to Serie A, where it would suffer its worst season ever, in 1981–82, being relegated once again. In 1983, Milan won the Serie B title for the second time in three seasons to return to Serie A, where they achieved a sixth-place finish in 1983–84.

After several different financial troubles had caused poor times and a lack of success on the pitch, Milan was bought on 20 February 1986 by Silvio Berlusconi, a Milanese entrepreneur, who saved it from bankruptcy. Berlusconi brought in a rising coach, Arrigo Sacchi, and three Dutch players, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit, in an attempt to return the team to glory, along with the Italian internationals Roberto Donadoni, Carlo Ancelotti, Giovanni Galli and Paolo Maldini.

Sacchi and Milan won the

, and its second Intercontinental Cup against National de Medellín (1–0, goal in the last minute of extra time).

1990s

1994 Champions League Final

The team repeated their European Cup triumph the following season after defeating Benfica 1–0, then earned its second Intercontinental Cup in a row, and third overall, after beating

With Sacchi leaving Milan in 1991 to coach the Italy national team, Fabio Capello was hired and under him, the Rossoneri kept being successful and came to be known as Gli Invicibili ("The Invincibles"). With an unprecedented 58-match run with no defeats, the Invincibili boasted the likes of Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini as one of the strongest defenses in football history, along with Marcel Desailly and Roberto Donadoni in midfield and Dejan Savićević, Zvonimir Boban and Daniele Massaro in attack.^[12]

In addition to three consecutive Scudetti from 1992 to 1994, including the feat going undefeated in 1991–92, Milan reached the Champions League final in a record three consecutive years. In

1996–97

After the departure of Fabio Capello in 1996, Milan recruited the Uruguayan Óscar Tabárez, but they struggled under the manager and were winless in their opening matches. In an attempt to regain former glories, the club brought back Arrigo Sacchi to replace Tabárez. The team then suffered their worst-ever Serie A defeat after being humiliated by Juventus at the San Siro, 1–6. Milan signed new players like Ibrahim Ba, Christophe Dugarry and Edgar Davids, though this did not stop Milan's struggles—they finished the year 11th in Serie A.

1997–98

Sacchi was replaced with the returning Fabio Capello in the following season, whose new Milan signed many potential players like Christian Ziege, Patrick Kluivert, Jesper Blomqvist and Leonardo. The acquisitions, however, did little to reverse the team's recent ill fortunes—Milan still finished mid-table in tenth, prompting the termination of Capello.

1998–99

In its search for a new manager,

and with a 3–4–3 formation, Zaccheroni brought the club's 16th Scudetto back to Milan. The winning line-up was: Christian Abbiati; Luigi Sala, Alessandro Costacurta, Paolo Maldini; Thomas Helveg, Demetrio Albertini, Massimo Ambrosini, Andres Guglielminpietro; Zvonimir Boban, George Weah, Oliver Bierhoff.

1999–2000

Despite success in the previous season, Zaccheroni failed to transform Milan to the great team it used to be. The following season, despite the emergence of the Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko, Milan disappointed their fans in both the Champions League and Serie A, exiting the former after winning just one out of six Group Stage matches and ending the domestic season third, never representing a realistic challenge to the top two of Lazio and Juventus.

2000s

2000–2001

The following season, Milan qualified for the 2000–01 Champions League by defeating Dinamo Zagreb 6–1 on aggregate. Milan started the Champions League on a high note, defeating Beşiktaş from Turkey and Spanish giants Barcelona, who at the time consisted of international world-class superstars in Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert. But Milan's form began to seriously decline, drawing against a number of teams (which are seen as technically inferior to Milan), but mainly losing by a 3–0 scoreline to Juventus in Serie A and 1–0 to Leeds United. In the second round of the Champions League, Milan won once and drew four times. They failed to beat Deportivo de La Coruña in the last game and Zaccheroni was subsequently fired.

Cesare Maldini, the father of team captain Paolo, was appointed and prospects immediately improved. Maldini's official coaching debut at Milan started with a 4–0 win over

. In spite of these results, the Milan board of directors were adamant that Milan reach fourth place in the league at the end of the season, but Maldini failed and the team ended sixth.

2001–02

Milan began the

, Serginho; Rui Costa; Andriy Shevchenko, Filippo Inzaghi.

2002–03 (3rd in Serie A, Champions of Europe)

Milan ended the season with their sixth Champions League trophy in 2003. En route to the final at Old Trafford, Manchester, Milan beat their cross city rivals Inter in the semi-finals and beat another other Italian rival, Juventus, in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. That same season, Milan placed third in Serie A and won both the Coppa Italia and UEFA Super Cup. The team's Champions League-winning starting line-up was: Dida; Alessandro Costacurta, Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Kakha Kaladze; Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf; Rui Costa; Andriy Shevchenko, Filippo Inzaghi. The following season, Milan signed Kaká. The team earned the nickname "I Meravigliosi" ("The Amazings").

2003–04 (Champions in Serie-A, Quarter Finals in Champions League)

Milan set a points record to win the Scudetto with a team that was largely kept constant for nearly five years—an attack spearheaded by striker Andriy Shevchenko, playmaking by Kaká and defence by Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini. Milan's season, however, was not perfect as they were beaten by Deportivo La Coruña 0–4 in the quarter-finals of the 2003–04 Champions League despite winning the first leg 4–1 at the San Siro. Despite being Italian champions, Milan showed, as some critics said, weak midfield character that would repeat itself in the Champions League final in the following season. Nevertheless, the squad proved successful and able to express a brilliant style of play for many months.

2004–05 (2nd in Serie A, 2nd in Champions League)

after conceding three goals in a span of just six minutes before ultimately losing 3–2 on penalties. Milan ended the season in second place to Juve in Serie A and Italian Super Cup champions over Lazio.

2005–06 (3rd in Serie A, Semi Finals in Champions League)

Milan's Serie A campaign appeared to be one of their most successful in recent years. The team ended the season with a league-high 28 wins, but could not edge Juventus in the standings due to their record-setting pace of 91 points, a record point total since broken. This success was nullified by the Calciopoli scandal. Milan were named in the Serie A scandal of 2006 and deprived of 44 out of the 88 points they gained in the season. In addition, Milan would start their 2006–07 campaign with –15 points. These point reductions, however, were later reduced to 30 and –8 respectively, providing Milan the chance to compete in the 2006–07 Champions League.

Milan's efforts in the Champions League that year also proved promising, though they ultimately fell short. After coming out on top of their group, Milan advanced to the knockout phase of the tournament, first defeating Bayern Munich on aggregate and then France's Lyon 3–1 on aggregate. In the semi-finals, they were eliminated by eventual champions Barcelona 0–1 on aggregate, where Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko had a goal controversially disallowed.

2006–07 (4th in Serie A, Won UEFA Champions League)

Milan's Serie A campaign began with an −8-point penalty resulting from the Calciopoli scandal. After a lackluster first half of the season that saw Milan hover in the middle of the standings, several January transfer acquisitions, including World Cup winner Massimo Oddo and Brazilian legend Ronaldo, reinvigorated the club. By the end of the campaign, Milan surged up the table to finish fourth, thus assuring their participation for the 2007–08 Champions League.

While their Serie A campaign proved moderately successful, the 2006–07 season is best remembered for the team's performance in the Champions League. The penalties imposed after the Calciopoli scandal resulted in Milan being seeded third in the final 2005–06 Serie A table, thus the team was forced to play in the

. Milan were victorious in the qualifier and advanced to the group phase, which they would eventually win.

Milan survived a first round fight, defeating Celtic (eventual champions of that year's Scottish Premier League) 1–0 on aggregate after an extra time goal by Kaká. Milan would then go on to defeat Bayern Munich 4–2 on aggregate (2–2 at San Siro and 2–0 at Allianz Arena) to reach the semi-finals, marking the third consecutive, and fourth time in five years, that Milan has reached the final four of the competition. The first leg of the semi-final was played against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Manchester scored early on a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, but Milan answered back through a brace from Kaká, ensuring a 1–2 lead at half-time. United would ultimately prove victorious, however, due to two second-half goals from striker Wayne Rooney. This match was regarded by the media and UEFA President Michel Platini as the greatest match in recent memories.^{[citation needed]} The second leg of the semi-final was played at San Siro on 2 May, where Milan played a near-perfect first-half, taking a 2–0 lead into the break with goals from Kaká and Clarence Seedorf. A 78-minute goal by Alberto Gilardino sealed the victory for the home side.

Milan advanced to the

on 23 May 2007 with Milan prevailing 2–1 with both goals coming from Filippo Inzaghi. With the victory, the club affirmed its status as one of European football's elite, with three Champions League final appearances in five years, including two victories.

2007–08 (5th in Serie A, Eliminated First Knockout Round in Europe, Won FIFA Club World Cup)

In the wake of a seventh European Cup/Champions League title, Milan continued their international success by winning the 2007 UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla in a game marked with sadness over the recent on-field death of Sevilla player Antonio Puerta. Milan's Champions League success also made the club eligible to compete in the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup, where they would win their 18th officially recognized international trophy, tying them for most club international trophies in the world. Ironically, Milan won their 18th title in a match against Boca Juniors, the team they were tied for the record.

These two trophies, however, only served as consolation for a disappointing season for Milan. The club had a slow start in Serie A, often finding it difficult to score after a pre-season injury to Ronaldo. This, coupled with their aging backline and some deteriorating performances by goalkeeper Dida, found the club sitting mid-table for the majority of the season, though new signing Alexandre Pato was a bright light for an otherwise dark season for Milan. By the end of the domestic campaign, Fiorentina edged Milan out for fourth place in the standings, knocking them out of qualification for the 2008–09 Champions League, the team's first failure to reach the tournament since 2001–02.

Milan's involvement in the 2007–08 edition of the Champions League was also forgettable. While the club won its group, they were quickly eliminated by Arsenal in the first knockout round. Prior to this season, Milan had made it to at least the quarterfinals of every Champions League going back to the 2002–03 edition.

2008–09 (3rd in Serie A, Eliminated First Knockout Round in UEFA Cup)

After a poor domestic season the year prior, the club made numerous additions during the off-season, signing Ronaldinho from Barcelona and re-acquiring former star Andriy Shevchenko from Chelsea, in addition to adding Gianluca Zambrotta, Marco Borriello and Mathieu Flamini, amongst others. They also later added international sensation David Beckham during the January transfer window on loan from the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer (MLS). Despite the high-profile additions, the season started poorly after two consecutive losses. The team bounced back, however, rising to first spot in the table for one week in the first half of the season before later dropping behind rivals Inter, who would go on to win their fourth-straight Serie A championship.

The team also fared poorly in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup competition. After winning their group and advancing to the knockout stage, the team was eliminated by eventual finalist Werder Bremen.

Perhaps the most notable aspect of the 2008–09 season was the retirement of footballing legend Paolo Maldini, who played all of his professional club games for Milan in a career that spanned 25 years.

2009–10 (3rd in Serie A, Eliminated First Knockout Round in Europe)

The season started with the dismissal of the head coach Carlo Ancelotti and the hiring of his replacement, former Milan player

.

The start of the season was poor, as the team failed to win several matches. But the results started to change in the victory against

. Although the Rossoneri achieved some important results, they were eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester United and lost the Serie A race to Inter. At the end of the season, Leonardo resigned despite Milan's wishes to keep him in the position.

2010s

2010–11 (1st in Serie A, Eliminated First Knockout Round in Europe)

Following a season of relative disappointment, with regards to signings and results, club president Silvio Berlusconi reinforced Milan by signing Zlatan Ibrahimović in a loan deal from Barcelona, Robinho from Manchester City for €18 million and Kevin-Prince Boateng on loan from Genoa. Following the resignation of Leonardo, Milan appointed Massimiliano Allegri, previously head coach of Cagliari.

Following a mixed start to

also gave Milan one of Serie A's top defences.

By the end of 2010, and the beginning of 2011, Milan had faced an injury crisis that had seen players Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini, Filippo Inzaghi, Gianluca Zambrotta, Kevin-Prince Boateng,

in the first knockout round.

In the league, however, Milan continued to put in strong performances, including convincing wins against Inter and Napoli, the league's other title-contenders. Following a 0–0 draw with Roma on 7 May, Milan mathematically claimed their 18th Scudetto.[14]

2012–13 (3rd in Serie A, Eliminated First Knockout Round in Europe)

In the 2012–13 Champions League knockout round, Milan won their home leg 2–0 over Barcelona.^[15] This was unfortunately not enough as they were comprehensively beaten 4–0 in the return leg. A third-place league finish behind Juventus and Napoli secured a Champions League berth for the following season.

2013–14 (8th in Serie A, Eliminated First Knockout Round in Europe)

The

, but terminated his contract to take up the managerial role. Despite overseeing Milan's first 5-match winning streak since 2011, as well as a win against city-rivals Inter, Seedorf was sacked as Milan finished in 8th. During the Dutchman's time at the helm of the club, Milan gained a total of 35 out of a possible 57 points - the fourth-most out of all Serie A sides (one less than Napoli's corresponding total and six less than Roma's).

At a European level, Milan qualified for the group stages of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League following a 4-1 aggregate victory against PSV Eindhoven. After being drawn into the same group as Barcelona, Celtic and Ajax, Milan qualified second in their group, before being knocked out by Spanish-side Atlético Madrid 5–1 on aggregate at the round of 16 stage.

2014–15 (10th in Serie A)

Milan hoped to turn around this run of bad fortune in the

heading into October 2014. However, a deterioration in morale and what many had blamed on a lack of key signings doomed Milan to a tenth-placed finish. Club legend Inzaghi was subsequently sacked as head coach.

2015–16 (7th in Serie A)

A raft of change came prior to the

was also added for €20 million.

The club went on a ten-game unbeaten run in December to February, a period in which the club peaked at fifth place in

Alessandria

in the semi-finals.

A string of embarrassing results, such as a 3–3 draw at home with lowly Frosinone (in which they had to fight back from 3–1 down) and failure to overcome relegation-threatened Hellas Verona, saw the sacking of Mihajlović as coach and the appointment of Cristian Brocchi for the remainder of the season.

Unfortunately, this was not enough as Milan would see themselves leapfrogged by

strike.

2016–17 (6th in Serie A)

At the beginning of the season, Vincenzo Montella was hired as the new manager. Montella managed to win the 2016 Supercoppa Italiana which was Milan's first trophy in 5 years as well as taking the club back to Europe after 3 years.

2017–18 (6th in Serie A, Eliminated Round of 16 in Europa League)

On 27 November 2017, Vincenzo Montella was sacked by Milan. Subsequently, they appointed Gattuso as the head coach of the first team, who left the position as the coach of

While Milan didn't do impressively in the first half of the season, with Gattuso they went on a 10-match unbeaten run from Matchday 19 to Matchday 29 in the league, winning seven times and drawing three.[18] Thanks to Gattuso's management, Milan managed a 6th-place finish^[19] and were runners-up in the Coppa Italia,^[20] as well as reaching the Round of 16 in the Europa League (where they lost 5–1 on aggregate against Arsenal).^[21]

Milan qualified for the

2018-19 (5th in Serie A. Eliminated in Group Stage)

The first season under Elliot for Milan began as a season of change for the team with new club president Paolo Scaroni. As well as with the arrival of new players such as

. In the first half of the regular season, the team had a relatively positive period of 8 wins, 7 draws and 4 losses and placing 5th in the Serie A at the midpoint of the season (matchday 19).

However, at the midpoint of the season team management decided to make roster changes to attempt to reach the team's end-of-season goal to make the UEFA Champions League for 2019–2020. The winter of 2019 saw the arrivals of promising players such as Lucas Paquetá and Krzysztof Piątek, along with the departure of Gonzalo Higuaín. The changes proved successful as Milan experienced an incredible run of form from matchday 19 to 27, where they had 7 wins and 2 draws, placing 3rd in Serie A after matchday 27 concluded. However Milan experienced a drop in from between matchdays 28 to 34 where they had a record of 4 losses, 2 draws and only 1 win. However, from matches 35 to 38 the team won their last four of the season. However it was not enough and the team failed to make the Champions League again finishing in 5th. The team's failure, along with being ineligible to play in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League due to needing to serve their penalty from UEFA, as well as losing to Lazio in the Coppa Italia semifinals, saw manager Gennaro Gattuso resign after the season's end.

2019-20 (6th in Serie A)

After the resignation of Gattuso, Milan signed

.

The first few months under Pioli's management was both a period of some praise and some criticism for the team and certain players. Pioli's job was near-constantly under pressure from upper management and fans. The lowest point was a 5-0 embarrassment at the hands of Atalanta on matchday 17, and at season's midpoint Milan sat 10th in Serie A. The winter of 2020 saw changes, the arrivals of Alexis Saelemaekers, Simon Kjær and the return of Zlatan Ibrahimović (Ibrahimović played on Milan from 2010 to 2012), as well as the departures of Lucas Paquetá, Ricardo Rodriguez, Pepe Reina and Suso. The team's form did slightly recover with these changes until the Serie A season was halted after matchday 26 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and orders by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for all sports to stop across Italy temporarily.

In June 2020, three and a half months after halting, the Serie A and Coppa Italia were given permission to continue with no spectators in stadiums. Milan's first game after the halt saw them draw to

.

2020s

2020–21 (2nd in Serie A, Champions League return)

Entering the first full season under Stefano Pioli, and after their stellar finish to the previous 2019-20 Serie A season, the team entered the new season with relatively high expectations particularly to finish in the league's top four teams and qualify for the

Monza

and was played at the San Siro).

The team began the new season largely continuing their momentum they finished off the previous season with and even building on it more. Milan in the first weeks and months of the season saw numerous victories, including notable ones such as a 2–1 home victory against city rivals

with a 2-1 aggregate score.

Following their first Serie A defeat in January against Juventus, the team's form stagnated with victories against mostly squads on the bottom half of the Serie A table with victories against teams such as

2020-21 Coppa Italia

were mediocre, winning 5–4 on penalties in the Round of 16 against Torino but being eliminated in the quarter-finals against rivals Inter after a 2–1 defeat.

The team's form remained stagnant until the final five matches of the Serie A season, where the team made a successful final push to qualify for the next season's

.

2021–22 (Scudetto Title Triumph)

After the departure of Calhangolu and Donnarumma, Milan brought in the likes of

season, and conceded only 31 goals, the fewest in the league alongside Napoli.

References

External links

• Official website history page