Just like the previous, summer 2024 brought many new faces to Milanello. First, in terms of managers, with Paulo Fonseca replacing Stefano Pioli, becoming the first ever Portuguese to take charge of AC Milan. There were also several new faces including Emerson Royal, Fofana, Abraham and Morata. The season began with a few disappointing results, but on 22 September, the Rossoneri put in a great performance against Inter and won the derby for the first time in two years thanks to Gabbia's fantastic late goal. To be honest, the team struggled to build consistency in the league, and there were a lot of changes in the winter. First of all, Fonseca was replaced by Sérgio Conceição and there were also several arrivals including Walker, Bondo, João Félix, Sottil and Gimenez, all right at the end of the window. Unfortunately, they didn't quite have the desired effect, as we ended the season in eighth place. Our best spells were in the cups: first and foremost, the Supercoppa that we won in Riyadh at the start of January with comeback wins against Juventus in the semis and Inter in the final. It was the 50th trophy won in our history, but unfortunately we couldn't add to that in the Coppa Italia where we stumbled at the final hurdle in Roma after great wins over Roma and Inter. All in all, it was another bitter ending when we lost to Bologna at the Olimpico.
The first year of the new Champions League format started poorly for the Rossoneri, who fell short against two top teams in Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen in our first two games. However, the reaction was great as we then got five wins in a row against Club Brugge, Slovan Bratislava, Crvena Zvezda, Girona and, above all, Real Madrid, putting the Rossoneri just one step away from direct qualification to the Round of 16. But, we ended up losing our last game against Dynamo Zagreb, meaning that we then had to join the play-offs in February against Feyenoord. In the first leg in Rotterdam, the Dutchmen just about won, and despite Santiago Gimenez's goal just 41 seconds into the second leg at San Siro, the game finished 1-1 and the Rossoneri's European journey came to an end.
