Zaccheroni's AC Milan clinch the Scudetto following a late surge
AC Milan had entered a new cycle. After rough patches in 1997 and 1998, Adriano Galliani dedicated himself to AC Milan and AC Milan only, abandoning his television assignments. Two defeats in Rome in May, a 5-0 loss to Roma in the league and a 3-1 loss to Lazio in the Coppa Italia final, saw to Fabio Capello’s departure. Alberto Zaccheroni then arrived as coach, bringing the German Bierfhoff and the Dane Helveg with him from Udinese. The Rossoneri got off to a quiet start, with no international commitments, and Zac fired shots at his players’ pride in order to encourage them: "Have you seen the newspapers? Nobody has named AC Milan as one of the favourites...".
It’s wasn’t a dominant league campaign for the Rossoneri: they were always up there towards the top of the table with a good run of results, but never pulled away. The fuse was lit in the last seven matchdays, when Lazio were in the lead and could feel the Rossoneri breathing down their neck. It was in fact by winning those last seven games that AC Milan snatched the Scudetto away from a Lazio side that seemed to have already secured the title. On 23 May, with a 2-1 win over Perugia, AC Milan won their sixteenth Scudetto trophy in the year of the Club’s Centenary celebrations. It was in that same year that a great, historic AC Milan player hung up his boots: Roberto Donadoni.
