AC Milan secured a solid 5th place after a massive summer clearout as Trebor Mahtal took control of his fourth Italian club. The Zambian now faced another big summer as he looked to bridge a big gap to the big two of Juventus and Napoli.
The summer of 2055 began with three more older players whose contracts were expiring going to Saudi for big money. Legendary centre back Mohammed Salem Al-Shammari went for £24m, midfielder Noah Kappenberger for £40m and winger Miguel Estupinán for up to £37.5m. Midfielder Albert joined Man City for £80m and Mahtal brought in an additional £30m for five players. That slashed about £1m off the wage bill and gave Mahtal around £250m to work with.
The first arrival was attacking midfielder Nuno Crachat on a free transfer from Leeds. But Mahtal was most excited by the signings of centre back Christophe Doyen for £25m from Club Brugge, striker Tomislav Rizvanovic for £4m from Osijek and Peruvian wonderkid midfielder Arturo Alarcón for £1.3m from Melgar. They were joined by midfielder Soren Stuckler for £23.5m from Kobenhavn and centre back Dawid Malek for £3.2m from Lech.
Mahtal also opted to change up the shape, moving to a 4-3-3 with two attacking midfielders in behind main goalscorer David Andrés. There’s plenty of pressure on Milan’s youngsters, including holding midfielder Fabio Amodio, winger Aboudramane Cissé and Doyen and Malek alongside the experienced Javier Sierra. However, Mahtal would eventually end up dropping the advanced playmaker into central midfield to make the approach a little more solid.
Second Season At AC Milan
Unsurprisingly, the media didn’t rate Mahtal’s transfer business, predicting a 9th place finish with title odds of 33/1 alongside Fiorentina, Parma, Lazio and Roma. Napoli are 5/6 favourites ahead of Juventus (9/2), Inter and Torino (13/1) and Atalanta (16/1). Interestingly, the top two both lost their managers over the summer, as Juve’s boss joined Leipzig and Napoli’s moved to Real Madrid.
The new-look Milan started the season superbly as Crachat scored half an hour into his debut and Andrés’ double secured a 4-0 thumping of Cesena. Crachat scored twice in a 3-0 win at Verona before Rizvanovic announced himself in style with a debut hat trick in a clinical 4-2 victory over Lazio and repeated the feat in a superb 3-0 success at Napoli. The strong started continued, including Andrés and winger Giacomo D’Anna scoring twice in a 7-0 demolition of Cagliari and Alarcón’s brilliant hat trick and Cissé’s first senior goal inspiring a 6-0 hammering of Palermo.
Milan lost for the first time at Mahtal’s former side Roma. But the increased attacking threat of the new approach shone through as Andrés scored two in a 4-0 thumping of city rivals Inter. Another big home win, with Andrés scoring another hat trick in a 6-0 domination of Bologna, saw Milan go into the new year tied on points with Valencia and as by far the top scorers in Serie A, having bagged 61 and conceded just 12 in 18 games.
Another Crack At Europa League
Milan got another set of easy Europa League fixtures and, after drawing the opener at Villarreal, they breezed to wins over Luzern, Hibs, Olympiacos, Feyenoord, Slavia Prague and Anderlecht to qualify with ease. The easy draws continued as rotated sides eased past Bodo/Glimt 3-2 in the last 16 and Luzern 8-1 in the quarters to face Slovan Bratislava, who knocked out Nice, in the semis. And, despite a disappointing 1-1 in Slovakia, Milan booked their place in the final with an easy 5-2 home win led by Cissé’s brace.
Losing Ground In Serie A Title Race
Milan began 2056 where they left off 2055, by putting six past Lecce. And a solid start to the year teed up a big clash between the top two in early February, but Milan slipped to a disappointing 4-2 defeat at home to Napoli. That sent Napoli one point clear at the top and inevitably sparked them onto a relentless winning run. Milan tried their best to keep pace, including Andrés bagging four in a 5-1 thrashing of Spezia. But draws at Palermo and Fiorentina and a rival defeat at Inter allowed Napoli to stretch their lead to 8 points.
However, Napoli finally lost at Roma then drew at home to Inter, while Milan dominated 3rd-place Torino 4-1, led by Andrés’ 40th goal of the season, to give themselves some hope. Indeed, the top two went into the final five games with Napoli 3 points clear and having scored a combined 195 goals. And Milan arguably had the easier run-in.
Game 1 – Monza (12th, home): The run-in began by easing to a 3-1 win over Monza through Alarcón, Crachat and an Andrés penalty. But Napoli also beat Juventus 3-1.
Game 2 – Sassuolo (16th, away): Andrés delivered yet again as his hat trick, including two penalties, led a 4-1 demolition of struggling Sassuolo. Napoli scored in the 86th minute to win 1-0 at Monza.
Game 3 – Atalanta (8th, home): Milan’s good form continued as they strolled to a 5-2 win over Mahtal’s former club with goals by wingers Milorad Matic and Salvatore Remorini, Alarcón, Andrés and D’Anna. Napoli again left it late to win 2-1 at home to Sassuolo.
Game 4 – Bologna (17th, away): Another Andrés hat trick led a 4-1 win at Bologna. That saw the striker smash the Serie A goalscoring record set by Mahtal’s former Roma attacker Giacomo Cobianchi and Milan pass Juventus’ record of 114 league goals. The next day, Napoli drew 3-3 at Atalanta to take a 1-point lead into an exciting final day.
Game 5 – Parma (home): Milan had a slight disadvantage on the final day, given it took place three days after they played the Europa League final (see below). It was also highly unlikely Napoli wouldn’t beat relegation-battling Bologna. Milan at least piled the pressure on as D’Anna tapped home from a corner after 3 minutes and Andrés sent Crachat in to double the lead 16 minutes later. Parma got one back, but Napoli were still at 0-0 at half time. Napoli eventually did score and Milan’s tired team eventually caved in, so Napoli did win Serie A.
Milan finished 2nd with 92 points after 29 wins, 5 draws and 4 defeats, scoring a record-breaking 119 goals (3.13 per game) and conceding 36. Andrés scored a ludicrous 45 goals in 37 games and topped the average rating table with 7.69, ahead of D’Anna on 7.64. D’Anna was also the leading assisted with 22, which was 8 more than anyone else, and Innocenti kept a league-high 20 clean sheets.
Europa League Final
Milan may have eased through to the Europa League Final, but a much tougher test followed as they faced Mahtal’s former club Man United at Fritz Walter Stadium in Freiburg. Surprisingly, Milan were looking to win the competition for the first time in their 157-year history, while United were seeking a fourth. Mahtal just about had a clean bill of health, despite a tired first 11, so lined up:
Innocenti; Macedo, Sierra, Malek, Donk; Dominguez, D’Anna, Alarcón, Cissé; Crachat; Andrés
Subs: Rizvanovic, Antonaci, Doyen, Krstic, Remorini, Stuckler, Paolini, Boli, Laratta, Matic
Milan made a bright start in their dapper pink and blue kits and took advantage as Cissé put Andrés through to coolly convert. Three minutes later, Cissé was tripped in the box and Andrés swiftly doubled his tally from the spot. United’s players were even more tired than Milan’s and didn’t even have a shot in the first half, but obviously went and scored their first. But Milan dominated, and that man Andrés was at it again as he turned home D’Anna’s cross to wrap up his hat trick on 81 minutes. United imploded and gave up late goals to D’Anna and Krstic to seal a 5-1 thumping.
AC Milan won the Europa League!
Celebrating A Free-Scoring Successful Season
Milan enjoyed a stellar season that, despite not quite winning the Scudetto, ended with glory in the Europa League. They scored a mass of goals along the way, setting new Serie A records and their top six scorers sharing a total of 126 goals. Andrés was their main man with a new club record 53 goals in 49 games, smashing the previous record of 38 set way back in 1951 by Gunnar Nordahl. Crachat also impressed with 24 goals and 14 assists, as did wingers D’Anna with 28 assists and 14 goals and Cissé with 15 goals and 11 assists and Alarcón with 12 goals and 13 assists.
The potential at the club was proven by Cissé winning European Golden Boy before Milan had four players in the NxGn 2056 top 10, led by winner Alarcón and Remorini in 2nd, and seven players in the top 50. While the under 20s won Coppa Italia Primavera, won the league by 35 points
But Mahtal wouldn’t be around to realise that potential as the Europa League success meant he was calling time on his fourth Italian club. In his 107 games and 683 days as AC Milan manager, he won 71, drew 19 and lost 17, scoring 232 and conceding 97 with a 66% win ratio.
Mahtal had now ticked off 16 of the 26 letters on his Alphabet Challenge, so where would he end up as he sought out number 17? Join us on Monday to find out!
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