AC Milan’s recipe for winning the Scudetto? Nothing too spectacular.

By Mirko Corli, writing from Torino.

For the first time since 2004, the Scudetto is a rossoneri trophy. And let me say as an Inter Milan supporter it is fully deserved.

As I told you many times here on AFR, to win Serie A you do not always have to be at your best in the biggest matches, but simply whenever it becomes vital to perform. AC Milan was able to manage a constant shape throughout the whole season, whether it was the Milan derby, massive trips away to Napoli or Juventus, or even just your average match against Sampdoria or Parma. This consistency, the fact that you knew what you were going to get when watching this squad, that’s why Milan finally deserve the title.

Inter weren’t able to achieve any sustainable level of consistency until the end of the season, which is why they could not manage to be a serious opponent until the end. The certainty of the title for AC Milan came after the derby: those were 3 scudetto-points.

What were the keys to this success? First of all, Massimiliano Allegri. The coach from Tuscany was in his first year on a bench with massive pressure, and all of this made his achievements even more phenomenal. He showed tactical wiseness, deciding to drop the all-quality midfield based on Pirlo to play with the three ball-catchers of Ambrosini, Gattuso and Flamini (or Van Bommel since January) while letting Cassano, Ibra, Pato and Robinho do the magic upfront. Moreover, he managed to calm down important players such as Pirlo, who was unhappy sitting on the bench.

Then, the defense was superb. Thiago Silva and Nesta (thanks to the absence of big injuries: remember, to mention just one, Inter played the whole season without Walter Samuel) were the best duo of the league. It’s not even up for argument. Abbiati also performed with some magic and continued to prove his critics wrong.

Moreover, we were left with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at his best. At least most of the time. All the attacking players of AC Milan performed well this season, but Zlatan did it again. He won his 8th national title in the last 8 years. He is, quite simply, the man you have to pick if you want to win competitions that span over a long period. He wasn’t good in the Champions League, once again, but managed to secure vital points for AC Milan, especially when they played against minor teams.

To win the Serie A, you have to win huge clashes such as Inter-Milan, Milan-Juventus, Milan-Roma, and so on, but the difference is made by constantly having games in hand with Lecce, Chievo, Bari, Cesena.

These are the matches you HAVE to win to secure the title. The Spanish Liga is different: you know that if you lose the two Clasicos, then you will have big problems to win the championship. If you are Barcelona or Real, of course. In Serie A, if you lose a big match, you have the feeling that also your direct rivals can lose points, maybe in an apparently safe away game at Chievo. Winning these games makes the difference and Zlatan, with his ability to invent goals from nothing, is the man to bring home three points almost always. Well done, Milan.