2012–13 AC Milan season
Milan 2012–13 football season / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2012–13 season was Associazione Calcio Milan's 79th in the Serie A and 30th consecutive season in the top flight of Italian football. Milan strived to regain the Serie A title, which they lost to Juventus in the previous season. The Rossoneri also competed in UEFA Champions League, as well as the Coppa Italia.
2012–13 season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Chairman Honorary chairman | Vacant Silvio Berlusconi | |||
Head coach | Massimiliano Allegri | |||
Stadium | San Siro | |||
Serie A | 3rd | |||
Coppa Italia | Quarter-finals | |||
UEFA Champions League | Round of 16 | |||
Top goalscorer | League: Stephan El Shaarawy (16) All: Stephan El Shaarawy (19) | |||
Highest home attendance | 79,532 (UEFA C.L.) vs Barcelona (20 February 2013) | |||
Lowest home attendance | 27,593 (UEFA C.L.) vs Anderlecht (18 September 2012) | |||
Average home league attendance | 43.651[1] | |||
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This season was the first not to feature a number of recent club legends, namely Gennaro Gattuso (1999–2012), Filippo Inzaghi (2001–2012), Clarence Seedorf (2002–2012), and Alessandro Nesta (2002–2012), whose contracts were not extended at the end of the previous season. High-profile players arriving at the club as veterans, namely Gianluca Zambrotta and Mark van Bommel, were also released from their contracts following their expiration on 1 July 2012. Finally, star players Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimović unexpectedly left Milan during pre-season when the club accepted transfer offers for both from PSG.
Due to financial problems, the club failed to sign any high-profile players as suitable replacements for the departed team leaders, which had a long-term negative effect on the team's morale and ability to compete for trophies.[2] However, as Alexandre Pato decided to move back to Brazil in January 2013, the UEFA Euro 2012 star striker Mario Balotelli was signed from Manchester City to front the team's attack.[3]
On the contrary, senior players Massimo Ambrosini and Christian Abbiati, both 35 years of age at the time, had their contracts extended and named captain and vice-captain for the season. The duo had been at the club together since the 1998–99 season, in which they won the Scudetto as part of the starting XI under manager Alberto Zaccheroni.[4]
Over the first 6 months of the season, Milan struggled a lot, losing a total of 9 games (7 in Serie A and 2 in the Champions League), as well as 4 pre-season friendlies. In 2013, however, the team lost only three games across all competitions. With 13 more wins and 6 draws in the Serie A, the club eventually finished in the 3rd place, securing a spot in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League qualification play-off, which became the club's main objective for the season following the team's elimination in the round of 16 of the previous edition of the competition.