GdS: Solidity, spirit and similarities – why Milan should believe in the Scudetto

AC Milan may currently be second in the table after Inter’s win over Bologna, but several signs suggest they should believe in the title.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport report, although Massimiliano Allegri continues to point to fourth place and subsequent qualification for next season’s Champions League as the only target for the season, it’s now clear that this Milan can aim higher.

Unlike Inter and Napoli – who are still in contention both in Europe and in the Coppa Italia – Mike Maignan and his team-mates have only 21 league games to play until May (including the rescheduled match against Como) and will be able to focus their energies solely on Serie A.

This advantage could prove to be significant, and one that the Rossoneri would like to capitalise on, just as Antonio Conte’s Napoli did last year.

Similiarities

Compared to last season, CEO Giorgio Furlani and sporting director Tare have overhauled the squad, appointing a winning coach in Allegri and bringing in 11 new faces. This includes key players such as Luka Modric, Adrien Rabiot and Alexis Saelemaekers, who were instrumental in the leap taken.

Milan’s ‘policy’ was similar to Napoli’s 12 months earlier when Conte asked for the likes of McTominay, Lukaku, Neres and Buongiorno. He also focused on raising the value of the available players who were coming off a difficult season.

Photos: Claudio Villa/AC Milan via Getty Images

This is why Mike Maignan, Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia, Strahinja Pavlovic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek – to name just a few – have returned to shine, just as Meret, Di Lorenzo, Anguissa, Rrahmani, Lobotka, and Politano did a year ago.

It is no coincidence that after the first 17 Serie A games, Milan have 11 more points than last season, while Napoli’s 2024-25 season has an impressive 13 more than its 2023-24 season. Max’s work at Milanello, just like Conte’s at Castel Volturno, has done the rest.

Without the distraction of European competition, the two coaches have erased the residue of the past and brought the winning mentality needed to aim high back into the squad. Thus, Napoli went from 10th place two seasons ago to first last season. Can Milan get a second star?

Solidity

Since the summer, Allegri has been at work to fix a defence that had conceded too many goals in 2024-25. They’ve now conceded 13 in 17 Serie A matches (only Roma and Como have done better), compared to 17 a year ago.

How do Napoli compare? One fewer: 12. In short, they are on the right Scudetto average in terms of goals conceded. This also applies in terms of points, given that the Azzurri have 38 points, the same as the Rossoneri now.

Other statistics that give hope not only for Champions League qualification, but also for something more, are the number of clean sheets (nine) and the number of defeats. The Diavolo have been beaten only once, on matchday one at San Siro against Cremonese, so are 16 unbeaten with 11 wins.

In 2024-25, the Rossoneri had already lost four times and have won four fewer (seven) than they do now. This is why the Rossoneri have dropped from eighth to second place in the table.

Spirit

The current Milan team also share its coach’s character and has quickly assimilated his footballing philosophy. They don’t focus on beautiful football, but on concreteness and winning, even at the cost of suffering.

They have won five of their eleven matches 1-0, with seven by a single goal. The Rossoneri’s concreteness is also evident in another statistic: their first goal 12 times has come with the first shot on target.

This explains why, in certain matches, Milan have been able to afford to focus on defence and then strike. Away from home, to reiterate the point, the Rossoneri are undefeated with five wins and three draws, conceding just five goals. No one in Italy has done better, either in terms of points earned or goals conceded.

In terms of overall goals scored, however, Milan trail league-leaders Inter, who have scored 38 compared to the Rossoneri’s 28. In terms of striker duos, Leao (six goals) and Pulisic (eight) – fourteen in total – are only one behind the Nerazzurri’s Thula, Lautaro (ten) and Thuram (five).