Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, Pato: AC Milan’s 2011 Scudetto winners - what happened next?

After an agonising 11 year wait, AC Milan returned to the top of the mountain in Serie A as they were crowned champions for the 2021/22 season.

Milan have endured an incredibly bleak decade since their last Scudetto win before this season’s triumph.

Slipping away from their usual spot in the limelight, Milan fell out of the fight for European football and underwhelmed significantly as a result of mismanagement, finishing as low as tenth in the 2014/15 season.

While that doesn’t sound at all catastrophic in the grand scheme of things, it absolutely was for the Rossoneri, who are one of club football’s most storied and successful sides.

But since appointing Stefano Pioli as manager in 2019 and with the help of more shrewd recruitment led by club legends Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara, a youthful Milan side has been rebuilt and conquered Italy once again, spearheaded by the experience of Olivier Giroud and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

What is important now for Milan is that they kick on and continue to rebuild in their mission to re-establish themselves as a European giant, and avoid falling to the same fate that followed their last Scudetto win in 2010/11.

With that in mind, now feels as perfect a time as ever to look back on the Milan side that was crowned Italian champions in 2011, and what happened next as a near decade of misery followed the win.

In an almost 20 year career with Milan from 1998 to 2016 that saw him play just about every role possible, Abbiati became first choice in the late 2000s and early 2010s as Dida’s presence waned. The Italian made 35 appearances and conceded just 24 goals in 2010/11 and would stay with the Rossoneri until he retired in 2016 as the goalkeeper with the most appearances for the club.

Loan