Associazione Calcio Milan, known commonly as AC Milan, are one of the most successful clubs in the history of Italian and European soccer.
The Rossoneri (The Red and Blacks) were founded in 1899 and they play in the San Siro stadium, which they share with fierce local rivals Inter Milan.
They have won Serie A 19 times, the last title coming in the 2021/22 season. They are now level with great local rivals Inter Milan as the second most successful club in the Italian top flight. However, both are some way behind Juventus, who have 36 league titles.
Milan were immediately successful and won their first titles in 1901, 1906 and 1907. In 1908, an internal disagreement over foreign players led to a split which resulted in the formation of Inter Milan. Inter were founded as a club with ambitions to sign international players as well as Italians.
Out of respect for their English roots, AC Milan kept the English spelling of Milan in their name. However, the fascist government forced the club to use the name Italian Milano when they were the ruling party in Italy.
Following Inter Milan's split from AC Milan, the latter did not win a league title in over four decades. That changed in the 1950s as the Rossoneri won the Scudetto in 1951, 1955, 1957 and 1959.
Swedish attacking trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm were all key in AC Milan's success in the 1950s.
In 1962, AC Milan won the Scudetto again and also claimed the European Cup for the first time the following year, beating Benfica in the final.
In 1969, Milan won the European Cup again, this time beating Ajax 4-1 in the final.
Milan fell into decline after the 1980 Totonero match-fixing scandal in Italian football, which saw them relegated to Serie B. They won promotion on the first attempt, but were then relegated again. Once again, they won Serie B at the first time of asking.
In the late 1980s, following Silvio Berlusconi's takeover of the club, AC Milan once again became a force to be reckoned with in Europe.
Italians Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Roberto Donadoni were also key players in the Sacchi era. Maldini went on to play for Milan until 2009.
Under Sacchi, Milan won the top flight title in 1987/88 for the first time in nine years. They won the European Cup the following year by beating Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in the final. In 1990, they defended their European prize by beating Benfica 1-0 in a repeat of the 1962 final.
Fabio Capello, a former Milan player, took over from Sacchi in 1992 and guided them to three league titles in a row. His Milan team would even go 58 games in a row unbeaten in Serie A.
Capello's Milan lost 1-0 to Marseille in the 1993 Champions League final - a major upset - but they recovered by winning the 1994 final 4-0 against Barcelona.
Carlo Ancelotti, another former Milan player, took over as manager in 2001 after a spell at Juventus which saw him just fall short of Serie A success.
Ancelotti took Milan back to the top of Europe, starting with the 2003 UEFA Champions League, which ironically saw the Rossoneri beat Juventus on penalties in the final after a 0-0 draw.
Milan went on to win Serie A the following season, with Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko finishing as top scorer.
In 2005, Milan infamously lost the UEFA Champions League final to Liverpool on penalties after squandering a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 in regulation time. However, the Rossoneri gained revenge in 2007 as they met Liverpool again in the final and beat them 2-1 with Filippo Inzaghi scoring twice.
It was not the only masterstroke of Ancelotti's time in charge of AC Milan. He also helped Andrea Pirlo reach his peak by utilising him as a deep-lying playmaker.
Under Ancelotti's guidance, Kaka won the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year award.
Since Ancelotti departed AC Milan for Chelsea in 2009, the Rossoneri have struggled to replicate their success under him.
They did manage to win the 2010/11 Serie A title under Max Allegri, but after key players Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic departed for Paris Saint-Germain, they were never quite able to rebuild.
Milan's financial management and recruitment policy in the post-Ancelotti years at times left a lot to be desired. The club missed out on European competitions due to violating Financial Fair Play. Milan's decline was also accelerated by the dominance of Antonio Conte's Juventus.
Despite years of failing to mount a strong title challenge, 10th place in the 2014/15 campaign their lowest ebb, the club's fortunes were about to change.
Former Inter manager Stefano Pioli was brought in as a short-term manager in October 2019, but was rewarded with a new two-year deal after guiding the club, which now included the recently returned Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to a high-scoring sixth-placed finish.
During his first full season in charge in 2020/21 he secured a second placed finish, the club's first win over Inter since 2016, their longest unbeaten run (24 matches) since 1993 and a new all-time record for away wins in a Serie A season (16). They also reached the last 16 of the Europa League before losing to Manchester United.
In 2021/22, Pioli went one better by delivering AC Milan's 19th Scudetto, the club's first title since 2011.
The Party Starter has arrived: @Ibra_official 🎉#AlwaysWithYou #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/2NzR27Glo7
— AC Milan (@acmilan) May 22, 2022
The 2022/23 season was disappointing in the league as AC Milan finished in fourth place, 20 points behind runaway winners Napoli.
In the Champions League, they reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by bitter local rivals Inter Milan. They also finished runners-up in the Supercoppa Italiana, again losing to Inter.
At the end of the 2023/24 season, Pioli left the club after five years in charge.
They finished runners-up in Serie A, but a huge points gap behind champions Inter..
They were eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League after finishing behind Paris St Germain and eventual finalists Borussia Dortmund, dropping into the Europa League where they were beaten at the quarter-final stage by Roma.
Former Roma and Lille boss Paulo Fonseca was named as the new manager in June 2024, but only lasted until December 29.
He was sacked after a 1-1 draw with Roma which left the club in eighth place in the Serie A table, 14 points adrift of joint-leaders Atalanta and Napoli.
The 50-year-old former Porto head coach Sergio Conceicao took the helm on December 30, 2024.
The derby between the two sides is called the Derby della Madonnina after the statue of the Virgin Mary which sits on top of the Milan Cathedral.
High profile stars who have played for both teams include Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Leonardo Bonucci, Mario Balotelli, Andrea Pirlo, Ronaldo and Giuseppe Meazza.
Elliott Management Corporation were AC Milan's majority owners before the summer of 2022. The hedge fund took control of AC Milan in 2018 after a turbulent spell under the ownership of Li Yonghong, who bought the club from Silvio Berlusconi with the help of Elliott.
While Elliott Management Corporation still retain a minority stake, AC Milan were acquired by RedBird Capital Partners in a $1.3billion deal in the summer of 2022.
Forbes reports AC Milan had a team value of $1.404billion (€1.3billion) in May 2023, with revenue of $299million (€265million) and an operating income of $11million (€10million).
Celtic meet the might of Harry Kane's Bayern Munich in the Champions League, while crucial battles take place at the top of the Championship in our BTTS acca on Wednesday, February 12.
West Ham are encountering significant hurdles in the transfer market, with their plans being disrupted by Youssouf Fofana's preference for joining AC Milan over the London club.
West Ham United are reportedly weighing up a bid for AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori as they look to strengthen their squad ahead of the new season.
AC Milan have announced the signing of Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid.
AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli will depart from the club at the end of the season after a five-year tenure.
AC Milan have reportedly made a substantial offer of â¬50million to secure the services of RB Leipzig's striker, Benjamin Sesko, who is also being pursued by Arsenal.
Inter Milan claimed their second Serie A title in four seasons after beating AC Milan 2-1 at San Siro.
