The first change to the bench for nine years happened as the Rossoneri parted ways with Capello. The Uruguayan Óscar Tabárez came in to replace him as coach. There was only one departure in the Summer window, but it was a significant departure, as Donadoni left. Regarding signings, though, the Rossoneri strengthened in all areas, with Pagotto in goal, Vierchowod and Reiziger in defence, Davids (and Blomqvist from January) in midfield and Dugarry in attack. The Supercoppa Italiana was the first official match of the season, and it foreshadowed what would be a complicated season: Fiorentina lifted the trophy at San Siro (2-1). The league started well with a home win to Verona, including a memorable goal from Weah, running from his own box, batting off defenders before eventually beating the goalkeeper. A flash of brilliance and little more, because the difficulties began after that. The Rossoneri failed to excel in Serie A and Coppa Italia. Vicenza knocked AC Milan out of the national competition in the quarter-finals, going on to be surprise winners of the whole tournament. The loss to Piacenza at the start of December cost Tabárez his job, replaced by an old acquaintance: Sacchi. Not even the return of Arrigo, however, could lift the Rossoneri's fortunes. AC Milan failed to turn over a new leaf in the new year, settling for 11th place in the league after too many dropped points. The final day of the 1996/97 season was emotional nonetheless for Milanisti fans, a sad yet proud day as they said goodbye to two club legends: captain Baresi, for whom the no.6 shirt was also retired, and Tassotti.
In what proved to be a challenging season domestically, the European campaign mirrored the struggle. The Champions League group stage began with uphill battles, as the Rossoneri twice surrendered leads to Porto, who triumphed 3-2 at San Siro on the opening matchday. Redemption came at the end of September with a commanding 4-1 away victory against Rosenborg, where Marco Simone shone with a hat-trick. However, another setback followed, as IFK Göteborg mounted a comeback from 0-1 to 2-1, leaving us with just 3 points halfway through. On 30 October, a 4-2 victory against the Swedish side at San Siro boosted morale, and a valuable 1-1 draw in Oporto against the Portuguese outfit put destiny in our hands for the final matchday. With Arrigo Sacchi taking over from the dismissed Tabárez on the bench, we faced Rosenborg, but a 2-1 loss to the Norwegians saw us finish the group in third place.
