Milan looking back to Berlusconi blueprint for return of glory days
For anyone who grew up in Britain in the late 1980s and 1990s, no team symbolized the glamor and sophistication associated with European soccer more than AC Milan. These were the glory days of Serie A, out on its own as the best league in Europe, and Milan, resplendent in their red and black stripes were streets ahead.
By the time Italian soccer was broadcast on British domestic television in 1992, Milan were the best team in Europe. They had recently retained the European Cup – the last team to do so until Real Madrid last season – and went the whole of the 1991- 92 league season unbeaten.
This period was the result of Silvio Berlusconi taking over in 1986 and appointing Arrigo Sacchi to create a team to take Milan back to the top. He did just that and much more before passing the reins to Fabio Capello in the summer of 1991. The new man then took Milan to three titles in a row and, from 1993, three consecutive Champions League finals.
A fall was inevitable. They held it at bay for a decade or so but this season marks 10 years since they last won the Champions League, and they have not gone further than the quarterfinals since they lifted the trophy for a seventh time. It’s now been four years since they played in European competition and six years since they last lifted the title.
Milan will return to Europe this season in the Europa League playoffs. That means an early start to what could be a very long season, but a path to the Champions League for a team that scraped sixth last season is too good to pass up.
New Chairman Li Yonghong, who formalized a takeover from Berlusconi last winter, is entitled to expect more. He’s overseen a summer of spending that signifies the intent – to channel Alex Ferguson – to knock Juventus off their perch. The biggest arrival so far is undoubtedly Leonardo Bonucci, the Juventus defender who could have had his pick of clubs this summer.
Signing Bonucci weakens the champions, while the signings of the indemand Franck Kessie and Andrea Conti from Atalanta and Lazio captain Lucas Biglia take players from two more teams who finished directly above Milan last season. That’s sensible recruitment.
Foreign imports in the form of fancied Bundesliga pair Ricardo Rodriguez and Hakan Calhanoglu, Sunderland’s Fabio Borini and Porto’s Andre Silva will also add to a youthful squad that showed promise last season under Vincenzo Montella. However, their biggest statement of intent is that they have kept keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
This summer’s shopping spree might not be done yet – they are said to be trying to sign either Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang or Andrea Belotti – but already it has been the most transformative by any club. The sleeping giants appear to be stirring; could this be the start of another golden era?