The traditional club AC Milan is champion in Serie A again for the first time in eleven years. Milan secured the title of the Italian football championship with a sovereign 3-0 (3-0) on the last day of the game at US Sassuolo. Led by double goalscorer Olivier Giroud and three-time assist Rafael Leão, coach Stefano Pioli’s team brought a splendid end to a strong season on Sunday and were no longer caught by Inter Milan. The city rivals won the parallel game at home against Sampdoria Genoa 3-0 (0-0). In the end, the defending champions had two points fewer than Milan. It was the club’s 19th league title, drawing level with Inter. Record champion is Juventus Turin (36).
In the stadium in Sassuolo, which was almost completely filled with Milan fans, the guests made the preliminary decision early on: Giroud scored a brace (17th/32nd minute), Franck Kessie scored the third goal (36th). All three goals were set up by Leão, one of the most exciting players of the Serie A campaign. A headed goal by substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic in what was possibly his last professional game was disallowed after video evidence. After winning the 2011 title, Milan slipped into the mediocrity of Serie A and even missed out on the European Cup for three years. Coach Pioli was the first to bring the red-blacks back into the Champions League and now to the top in Italy – in 2020 the coach came close to being replaced by Ralf Rangnick.
