The summer of 2021 saw AC Milan make several changes in the market, with significant arrivals and departures for the Club after its return to the Champions League. Donnarumma and Çalhanoğlu, important players in previous seasons, departed, while new, important signings on a tactical level arrived, including Maignan, Florenzi, Messias and Giroud. The start of the campaign was fantastic: AC Milan secured ten victories and two draws from their opening twelve games, their best start in history. Losses to Fiorentina and Sassuolo ended the positive streak but couldn't stop AC Milan's momentum, with the team sitting on 42 points at the halfway point of the season, only four from the top. When Inter, with 15 minutes left to play in the Derby on 5 February, were ahead in the match (and therefore four points ahead in the table with a game in hand), AC Milan's dreams of winning the Scudetto seemed to be fading. Everything changed within 3 minutes, however. In the space of 180 seconds, Olivier Giroud first poked the ball home and then turned in the area and slotted past the keeper, beating Handanovič twice to rekindle the Rossonero flame. In Naples, it was Oli again who secured the three points, in a month characterised by three 1-0 wins, consolidating AC Milan's lead in the league. The Rossoneri secured the title by winning their final six matches of the 2021/22 campaign: Genoa, Lazio (a goal from Tonali at the death), Fiorentina, Hellas Verona, Atalanta - with a peach of a goal from Theo Hernández - and finally, on 22 May 2022, in Reggio Emilia against Sassuolo. The Giroud double combined with Kessie's goal within 36 minutes started the party as AC Milan won their 19th Scudetto, one of the sweetest for the youngest team in the league.
The much-awaited return of Champions League nights was complicated by AC Milan's inclusion in the 'Group of Death' alongside Liverpool, Atlético Madrid and Porto. The first two games saw two narrow (and undeserved) losses against the English and Spanish outfits. After gaining just one point against the Porto, chances for qualification from the group looked slim. Messias' winner against the Colchoneros gave the Rossoneri a chance, but the final defeat at home to Liverpool put an end to the European dream as we end the group stage in 4th place.
Relive our 19th Scudetto: lifting the trophy, the celebrations, key moments and every Serie A 2021/22 goal
