AC MILAN 1958/59 ROSTER

SERIE A

The 1958/59 season began with a change at the helm as Luigi Bonizzoni replaced Gipo Viani, who stayed at the Club as Technical Director, as well as the arrival of José Altafini from Palmeiras. The Rossoneri got off to a flier in the league with four wins and a draw from their first five games, but a defeat away at Vicenza at the end of October seemed to have put paid to the Rossoneri's ambitions. Yet they got back to form on 16 November with a crazy 5-4 win away at Juventus, which kicked out an unbeaten run that lasted the remainder of autumn and throughout the whole of winter. Thus began a heart-pounding title race with Fiorentina, as both sides went shot-for-shot and remained close in the top two spots. A key date was 12 April, when the Rossoneri line-up came away from the Stadio Comunale in Florence with a 3-1 win, which saw them claim first place. A draw with SPAL in the following game was eventually influential, as the Ferrara-based outfit beat the Viola in Florence the following week. From there, AC Milan would retain the lead until the end. The Rossoneri were mathematically crowned Champions of Italy for a seventh time on 2 June 1959 thanks to a 7-0 thrashing of Udinese to cap off a great year for Liedholm and co. Altafini also ended his first season at AC Milan as the Club's leading goalscorer with 28.