Campioni d'Italia: Revisiting season predictions as Milan claim first Scudetto in eleven years
AC Milan clinched their first Scudetto in eleven years on Sunday evening thanks to a convincing 3-0 win against Sassuolo. It was one of the best performances of the season and the Rossoneri really showed that they deserve this Scudetto, proving all of the doubters wrong.
Many were nervous heading into the Sassuolo clash, seeing as they have the potential to beat any opponent in the league. Indeed, they managed to beat the likes of Milan, Inter and Juventus away from home earlier in the season, which inevitably made the fans a bit more nervous.
However, while the nerves were warranted, Milan ended the game after just 35 minutes as Franck Kessie scored the third goal. The Ivorian got his farewell goal and the man behind it was once again Rafael Leao, who assisted the first two goals for Olivier Giroud.
The second half didn’t offer that much as Milan took their foot off the gas and decided to coast through it. As the final whistle approached, the players and Stefano Pioli were already celebrating on the bench and when Doveri did put an end to the clash, amazing scenes erupted.
And while Pioli’s on fire was a certainty throughout the evening, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (of course) stole the show just before the ceremony as he popped a bottle of champagne and smoked a cigar. He made sure to do his usual goal celebration as well before reaching the podium, and it’s clear this win means a lot to him.
Given that Elliott Management founder Paul Singer had made his way to the game, it was the perfect display from Milan and he can be proud of the project that has been built at the club. Gordon, his son, was even celebrating on the bus during the parade on Monday, singing along to the chants. Even though a sale remains likely, a special bond has clearly been created.
We all know how the game went, having watched it back several times over the last few days. And the chants during the parade, especially the ones aimed at one special person, while hilarious don’t need further commenting in this newsletter (do make sure to check out our Twitter for those, though).
Instead, let’s take a look at the season predictions that many of the SempreMilan writers made ahead of the season. In hindsight, there are some rather hilarious takes and you can take a look at the full piece here. Down below, we take a look at each category and who got it right/came closest.
Scudetto winner…
Ahmed Bdair: Milan.
Gianmario Busia: Milan.
Top four in order…
Ahmed: Milan, Juve, Inter, Atalanta.
Rohit Rajeev: I think Juventus, Milan, Napoli and Inter are top four.
Best of the rest (5, 6, 7)…
Gian: Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina.
Relegated teams…
No one managed to mention more than one of the relegated teams.
Top goalscorer for Milan (all comps.)…
Isak Möller: Giroud.
Oliver Fisher: Giroud.
Gian: Giroud.
Ivan Stoev: Giroud.
Maxi Angelo: Giroud.
Rohit: Giroud.
Capocannoniere…
Gian: Immobile.
Rohit: Immobile.
Most assists for Milan…
Ahmed: Leao.
Most assists Serie A…
No one said Berardi.
Milan’s player of the season of…
No one said Leao, the closest guess was Tomori from a few.
Breakout player for Milan…
Ahmed: Leao.
Rohit: Tonali.
If you take a look at the piece as a whole, as said, there are a few funny mentions in hindsight. But who cares, Milan are champions and that’s what matters currently, with a lot to come during this summer transfer window. That is what we will take a look at in next week’s edition.
