Coach Allegri's Rossoneri headed into the new season with a prestigious 2-1 win over Inter in Beijing on 6 August - Ibrahimović and Boateng on the scoresheet - to lift the Club's sixth Supercoppa Italiana. Despite this, the team struggled to get into gear early on in the league. But an unbeaten twelve-game run before the Christmas break - including a memorable 4-3 win at Lecce - took AC Milan to within touching distance of top spot. In a crucial part of the season, the Rossoneri lost some key players due to injury: Thiago Silva, Pato, Boateng, Gattuso and Cassano. A few games after the controversial 1-1 home draw with Juventus, AC Milan slipped to second place in the table, which they were unable to improve on, and eventually finished as runners-up. The 2-1 win against Novara, sealed by Inzaghi, saw him, and other Club legends, make their final appearance: from SuperPippo and Gattuso through to Nesta, Seedorf, Zambrotta and van Bommel. Of the numerous positive things to come out of the year, Zlatan Ibrahimović ended up leading goalscorer with 28 goals, followed surprisingly by Nocerino, who reached double figures, while the Rossoneri also topped 100 goals in all competitions.
The reigning Italian champions started well in Europe, with a last-minute draw away at Barcelona (thanks to a Thiago Silva goal) to which they added two home wins over Viktoria Plzeň e BATE Borisov. The Rossoneri ended Group H in 2nd place, moving to the round of 16 where they beat Arsenal 4-0 in the first leg at San Siro and ultimately advancing 4-3 on aggregate to seal the team's return to Europe's Top 8. The Champions League campaign ended in the quarter-finals against eventual champion, Barcelona.
