AC Milan has completed its ascent back to the Serie A summit

Milan secured their 19th Italian championship title on the last round of the 2021–22 season, with a club-record tally of 86 points. It was their first league title since the 2010–11 season.

For the first time since 2010-11, the Rossoneri have been crowned Italian champions, outlasting rival and defending scudetto winner Inter Milan for the ’21-22 league trophy.

It has been a humbling decade for Milan, which has seen Juventus win nine straight titles before Inter ended a lengthy title drought last season.

But the red side of the San Siro is the one celebrating now, pulling even with Inter for the second-most titles in Italian history (19; both trail Juventus’s official tally of 36).

40-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic dedicated his second Scudetto with Milan – an incredible 11 years after their first together – to the late Mino Raiola.

All of the players and fans, meanwhile, celebrated their success wildly. And why not? After all, Milan had come so far to get to this point.

They say that you learn more from a defeat than a victory and Pioli would certainly subscribe to that theory.

In the space of three years, technical director Maldini, chairman Paolo Scaroni, CEO Ivan Gazidis, sporting director Frederic Massara and owners Elliott Management Corporation have taken a club on the verge of complete collapse after Li Yonghong’s disastrous spell at the helm, to champions of Italy for the first time since 2011.

And they have done so without spending millions on superstar signings.

t’s been far from a one-man show for Milan, who have been paced by attacking stars young and old. Giroud’s 11 goals, Rafael Leão’s 10 and Zlatan Ibrahimović’s eight spearheaded Stefano Pioli’s attack.

Ibrahimović was part of Milan’s last title, when he took on the role of its leading scorer while on loan from Barcelona, and he came ready to celebrate after the title was clinched.

On the other end, goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who joined from French champion Lille, backstopped another club to a title by marshaling a defensive unit that ended the season level with Napoli as the league’s stingiest.

Congratulations to the Rossoneri.