Paolo Maldini looks back over the key moments of Milan’s season, including the decision to keep Stefano Pioli and their Rio Ave penalty shoot-out.
They were top of the table at the midway stage, allowing them to be crowned Winter Champions, but only scraped a top four finish on the final day with their 2-0 win away to Atalanta.
“It felt like this was a season that lasted almost two years,” Maldini told the official AC Milan Twitch channel in a livestream.
“Since the coach arrived, he hasn’t had a vacation, he’s just had two consecutive seasons stuck together, because COVID transformed all our lives.
“We had this dream, we took second place thanks to our unity. It’s wonderful to celebrate together.”
It seems like small fry for someone of Maldini’s pedigree, but he notes times have changed.
“It won’t be easy for anyone to achieve what that Milan team did. Every adventure has to start somewhere and this is the start of ours, which will continue taking us towards competing at the highest level.
“We are happy, but Milan must also be ambitious and every year we’re laying the foundations to build higher. Obviously, qualifying for the Champions League is a financial boon, but we care about getting to play the best teams in the world and trying to be at their level.
“I’ll tell you a story, in the locker room Zlatan Ibrahimovic asked who in the squad had played in the Champions League before and only Hakan Calhanoglu lifted his hand. That lets you realise how difficult it is to be a protagonist in that competition.”
It’s remarkable to think that towards the end of last season, Stefano Pioli and Maldini risked the sack, with CEO Ivan Gazidis in negotiations to hire Ralf Rangnick.
“The real key moment was when the coach and I were confirmed in our roles and we decided to go forward with the group that was doing so well after the lockdown. We had only three weeks for the summer, where we tried to improve the squad, and then qualifying for the Europa League via the final preliminary round on penalties with Rio Ave was the toughest moment.
“We had so many players out through injury and COVID, but the spirit of the team came through. That was a sign this would be a positive season.”