Scudetto 2010/11

Zlatan Ibrahimović’s private flight had only landed at Linate airport a few hours before the first game of the league season against Lecce, but he was already wanting to play. Explaining to him why he couldn’t, because of the transfer regulations and so on, was difficult, and instead of playing he gave a speech to the Curva at half time of a game in which the Rossoneri were already well ahead: “Listen, I came here to win.” Which, because it’s Ibra, happened soon after. The team found its groove in November during a 3-2 win over Bari when Allegri abandoned the 4-3-3 formation they had been using and changed to a 4-3-1-2 that saw three midfielders support a playmaker behind the duo of Ibrahimović and Robinho up top.

The 3-1 home win against Palermo established the Rossoneri’s place at the top of the table as early as November, on matchday eleven, and they didn’t relinquish that spot for the remainder of the season. The January transfer market saw Urby Emanuelson, Mark van Bommel, Nicola Legrottaglie and Antonio Cassano all arrive in Milan. Despite these new signings, AC Milan had mixed results between February and March, although they still managed to win both their games at San Siro 3-0, against Napoli and then the title-deciding Derby against Leonardo’s Inter. The decisive match was on 8 May, when AC Milan only needed one point to seal the Scudetto. Abbiati, Abate, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta, van Bommel, Gattuso, Seedorf, Boateng, Ibrahimović and Robinho was the team that took to the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico against Roma. They ground out a 0-0 draw and thus AC Milan were mathematically crowned Italian champions, for the eighteenth time in the Club’s history, with two matchdays to spare.