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AC MILAN

Profile 

Associazione Calcio Milan is one of the heavyweights of Italian football. Founded by two English expatriates in 1899, the club has been a mainstay in Italy’s top division the Serie A. 

Nicknamed the Rossoneri (the red and black) for its kit colours, AC Milan are one of the most identifiable clubs not just domestically, but also internationally. 

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza is their home ground, which is commonly known as the San Siro (from the city’s namesake district), having played there since 1926. It is the largest stadium in Italy, in which it seats up to 75,923, almost five-thousand lower than its current original capacity. 

AC Milan’s biggest rival is neighbors Internazionale, who also considers San Siro as its home and contests the Derby della Madonnina in the city. Apart from the Nerazzuri, Milan also has its own rivalries with Juventus, Roma and Lazio. 

Honours 

AC Milan is one of the most successful clubs not just in Italy and in Europe, but also around the world. 

Domestically, they have won nineteen Serie A championships, the most recent of which came from last season (2021-22), where they clinched the scudetto on the final day. In addition, they won six Coppa Italias and seven Supercoppa Italias. 

Internationally, they are also one of the most decorated sides, having won seven European Cups/Champions Leagues which is just a distant second to La Liga outfit Real Madrid, a pair of Cup Winners’ Cups, five UEFA Super Cups, three Intercontinental Cups and the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup. 

Famous players 

Over the years, Milan had its own share of legends that graced the San Siro and brought honors and trophies along the way. 

Here are the greatest of the lot. 

• Paolo Maldini ranks as the greatest Rossoneri ever. The center-back played his entire career with Milan from 1984 to 2009, holding the club record for appearances with 902. HE won seven scudetti and five European Cups in his career. 
• Like Maldini, fellow defender Franco Baresi spent his entire career with the Rossoneri, having played 719 times in a twenty-year span. As a captain from 1982 up to his 1997 retirement, he lifted 16 total trophies, including five scudetti and three European Cups. 

• Swedish striker Gunnar Nordahl is one of the best foreign exports for Milan. He was the club’s leading goalscorer with 221 goals on his AC Milan career from 1949-1956. Teaming up with fellow Swedes Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm, they formed the fabled attacking trio from the San Siro. 
• Also, Milan has six Ballon D’Or winners – Italian Gianni Rivera (1969), the Dutch pair of Ruud Gullit (1987) and Marco van Basten (1988-89, 1992), George Weah (1995) of Liberia, Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko (2004) and Brazilian World Cup winner Kaka (2007). 

Notable managers 

Milan is currently managed by Stefano Pioli, who came in the middle of the 2019-20 season and won his first major title (a Scudetto in 2021-22). 

Before him, here are the fabled managers that brought trophies before him. 

• Nereo Rocco is Milan’s winningest and longest-serving manager, having won 10 trophies in three separate spells. He won two scudetti, three Coppa Italias and two European Cups as his major honors 
• Arrigo Sacchi brought a pair of European Cups and a scudetto to the San Siro his four year stint from 1987 to 1991. 
• Fabio Capello succeeded Sacchi and won three consecutive scudetti, and the 1994 Champions League. 

• Carlo Ancelotti managed the Rossoneri 420 times from November 2001 to May 2009. A former player of Sacchi and Capello, he won a pair of Champions Leagues in 2003 and 2007, in addition to a scudetto and a Coppa Italia.