AC Milan’s incredible dreams finally came true when they lifted the Italian Serie A 2021/22 trophy last Sunday (22nd May 2022) after securing the title with a 3-0 away win against Sassuolo.
It was Rossoneri’s first Serie A title since the 2010/11 edition. With this latest Serie A trophy, Milan have equalized Inter’s 19 Serie A titles, and both are now the joint-second most successful teams in this tournament history (Juventus are the most successful with 36 trophies).
It was an incredible journey for a team like AC Milan who were reportedly on the brink of bankruptcy in 2018. Here we are talking about some key points that helped AC Milan to end their wait for a Serie A title.
1. AC Milan: Believe and grow as a team
AC Milan have set a great example in the football world to believe and grow as a team. Milan’s latest Serie A title success was only possible due to their complete team game.
While Stefano Pioli took the charge of this Italian club in October 2019, they were the club to finish below the top four positions. It took time but the manager always believed in his players and their never give up attitudes helped to create a great spirit in the team.
AC Milan finished in the second position in the previous Serie A season. From the beginning of this season, Milan maintained their domination in this league through their consistently confident performances. Inter and Milan had a neck and neck battle till the end of this competition, but Rossoneri were strong enough to hold the nerve till the end and clinch the trophy.
2. Disciplined defence and Mike Maignan’s trustworthy hands
Among the top five teams at the end of the Serie A 2021/22, AC Milan were the second-fewest goal-scorers with 69 goals. However, they only conceded 31 goals in this entire Serie A season, the joint-lowest goals-concede for a team in this competition.
Milan’s defence completely deserves the entire credit for conceding joint-least goals in this Serie A season. The defensive success generally depends on the complete defensive team and once again they sent a powerful message as a team.
Finally, we also have to talk about the best goalkeeper of this Serie A season, Mike Maignan. The Milan goalie finished with the 17 clean sheets in this Serie A season with 81 saves. While the defenders worked really hard to put Maignan against lesser challenges, the 26-year-old French goalie also proved himself with consecutive successes.
3. Great combination of experienced attackers and young Rafael Leao
At the end of the Serie A 2021/22, there were no AC Milan players in the top 15 position of the most goal-scorers list and only one Milan player in the top 10 positions of the most assist providers list. But once again they proved themselves as a solid team in this competition.
No doubt that the 22-year-old Portuguese winger Rafael Leao finished as the Most Valuable Player of this season as he was both Milan’s joint leading goal-scorer (11 goals) and leading assist provider (10 goals) in this Serie A season.
However, the experienced forward players Olivier Giroud and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s roles were also unforgettable. While Giroud had 11 goals and three assists in this competition, Zlatan finished this Serie A season with eight goals and three assists. Definitely, these experienced players’ powerful appearances massively helped Leao and other Milan attackers to challenge the opposition defence strongly.
While this team has many other players with significant direct goal-scoring involvements this season, we can’t forget the contributions of the 24-year-old French left-back Theo Hernandez. He recorded five goals and five assists in this competition.
4. Winning Milan Derby
Though both the Milan Derbies were played much earlier than the season’s conclusion, ultimately those results played crucial roles in the title battle. While AC Milan and Inter had the neck and neck competition to win this Serie A title, they also had similar battles in both the Milan Derbies of this competition.
In their home contest, Milan had a 1-1 draw result. In the return leg of this tournament, Milan clinched a 2-1 away win. The Red and Blacks earned three extra points at the end of those battles, and they ultimately finished on top of the table with two points ahead of the Black and Blues.
5. Starting and ending dominantly
AC Milan were mostly in control in this Serie A title battle. While they were unbeaten in the first 12 games of this competition, they only drew twice in that part. Finally, the Red and Blacks ended the season with another 18-match unbeaten streak, including winning all the last six games.
Though Rossoneri suffered four defeats in the middle of the season, they never got carried away in this competition. It only proves that they deserve the trophy.
