For the first time since 2011, AC Milan have been crowned Serie A champions. The Rossoneri clinched the Scudetto with a convincing 3-0 away win against Sassuolo. All three goals came in a 19-minute first-half flurry; Olivier Giroud scored the first two before Franck Kessié put the result of the match and the championship beyond any doubt.
The 11 years that have passed since Milan's last league title had been their least successful era since 1979-87. The absolute nadir of the more recent barren era came in the 2014-15 season when the Rossoneri only finished 10th in the league. It was their worst league finish since 1997 when an outrageously loaded team including players such as Roberto Baggio, George Weah, Paolo Maldini, Zvonimir Boban, and Edgar Davids somehow only managed to finish 11th.
From 2013-14 to 2019-20, Milan failed to qualify for the Champions League. This seven-year streak matched their 1980s drought. A return to Italian football's top table seemed lightyears away. However, in the later years of this span, the seeds which would someday blossom into the foundation of a revitalized Milan team were being planted.
Ivorian midfielder Kessié was the first key piece to arrive. Kessié joined Milan on a two-year loan deal in 2017 and would go on to become a permanent player upon its conclusion. In the years to follow, Milan would add to their roster in a methodical manner, bringing in under-the-radar yet valuable signings such as Theo Hernandez, Sandro Tonali, and Rafael Leão. The finishing touches came in the most recent off-season when Milan made Tonali and fellow loan signing Fikayo Tomori permanent players while also bringing in French duo Mike Maignan and Giroud.
Milan overcame the loss of Gianluigi Donnarumma to Paris Saint-Germain astonishingly well. Prior to this season, Donnarumma had been the club's best player and was fresh off leading Italy to a European Championship title capped off by an outstanding individual performance in the final penalty shootout against England. However, as it would turn out, the acquisition of Maignan was a masterstroke. As Milan's new starting goalkeeper, Maignan quickly established himself as the best goalkeeper in Serie A with a campaign that saw him make the leap to elite status. On the other hand, Donnarumma's season as PSG will be most remembered for his costly error in the Champions League round of 16 that contributed to PSG's elimination against Real Madrid.
Milan's selection of Stefano Pioli as head coach in October 2019 went on to work out better than they could have ever dreamed. When his predecessor Marco Giampaolo was fired, Milan were 13th in the league; had they finished there, it would have been their worst league finish in almost 40 years. Upon Pioli's hiring, many Milan fans were skeptical; they were expecting a bigger name to enter the dugout. After a slow start, Pioli presided over a late-season surge that saw them vault up the table and finish sixth. They were only kept out of the next season's Europa League by financial violations previously committed. As Pioli became more and more familiar and comfortable in his role, Milan went from strength to strength, culminating in this season's triumph.
It is notable that Milan's revival did not come as a result of spending colossal amounts of money on players. At just €28.5 million and €28 million respectively, Tomori and Leão have been Milan's most expensive signings over the past three years. Though they may have taken the long way to get back to the top, the fact that they did so makes their victory all the more satisfying (except in the eyes of Inter Milan and Juventus fans, of course).
To make things even more interesting, it must be kept in mind that the city of Milan is a large, glamorous market which may have the potential to attract star players. Couple that with the fact that Milan are at their strongest in many years and it should become evident - Milan is suddenly a contender, albeit a fringe one due to their relatively lesser wealth, to land a genuine superstar in the coming off-season.
AC Milan is one of the most iconic clubs in world football. It may have taken them a while, but they are back where one would expect a club of their prestige to be.
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