2003–04 A.C. Milan season

Milan
2003–04 season
President Silvio Berlusconi
Manager Carlo Ancelotti
Stadium San Siro
Serie A 1st
Supercoppa Italiana Runners-up
Coppa Italia Semi-finals
UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals
UEFA Super Cup Winners
Intercontinental Cup Runners-up
Top goalscorer League:
Andriy Shevchenko (24)
All:
Andriy Shevchenko (29)
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Associazione Calcio Milan managed to claim its first league title for five seasons, following an impressive display of offensive and defensive skills. Arguably, this was at the pinnacle of Carlo Ancelotti's Milan helm, since the side proved it had the ability to last for the whole season.

Season rivals Roma both scored more and conceded less goals than Milan, but effective Milanese showing in tight matches, ensured the winning margin was edged out to a stable 11 points. The title was sealed against Roma at home, with a goal in the second minute from Andriy Shevchenko proving enough for a 1–0 victory.

The lowest point in Milan's season was undoubtedly the 4–0 defeat at Deportivo La Coruña in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where Milan had eased to a 4–1 victory at home, but was completely humbled by the aggressive and desperate play from the Spaniards in the return leg.

Individually, the biggest surprise was how Kaká seamlessly found his way into the Italian game, being a key player as the playmaker. Andriy Shevchenko was crowned as European Footballer of the Year on the back of his successful season, but the whole team had a remarkable season.

Players

Squad information

Squad at end of season[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Italy GK Valerio Fiori
2 Brazil DF Cafu
3 Italy DF Paolo Maldini
4 Georgia (country) DF Kakha Kaladze
5 Argentina MF Fernando Redondo
7 Ukraine FW Andriy Shevchenko
8 Italy MF Gennaro Gattuso
9 Italy FW Filippo Inzaghi
10 Portugal MF Rui Costa
11 Brazil FW Rivaldo
12 Brazil GK Dida
13 Italy DF Alessandro Nesta
14 Italy MF Massimo Ambrosini
No. Position Player
15 Denmark FW Jon Dahl Tomasson
18 Italy FW Cristian Brocchi
19 Italy DF Alessandro Costacurta
20 Netherlands MF Clarence Seedorf
21 Italy MF Andrea Pirlo
22 Brazil MF Kaká
23 Croatia DF Dario Šimić
24 Denmark DF Martin Laursen
26 Italy DF Giuseppe Pancaro (on loan from Lazio)
27 Brazil DF Serginho
32 Italy FW Marco Borriello
77 Italy GK Christian Abbiati

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
11 Brazil FW Rivaldo (on loan to Cruzeiro)
No. Position Player
25 Brazil DF Roque Junior (on loan to Leeds United and Siena)

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
40 Italy GK Giuseppe Dei Forti
41 Italy MF Mattia Dal Bello
42 Italy MF Roberto Bortolotto
43 Italy FW Alessandro Matri
44 Italy GK Marco Taddonio
45 Italy DF Ignazio Abate
46 Italy MF Davide Canini
No. Position Player
47 Italy DF Elia Legati
48 Italy MF Patrick Kalambay
50 Italy GK Davide Gobbato
51 Brazil MF Claiton
52 Italy FW Michele Piccolo
86 Italy FW Nicola Pozzi

Competitions

Supercoppa Italiana

Serie A

Main article: 2003–04 Serie A

League table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Milan (C) 34 25 7 2 65 24+41 82 2004–05 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2 Roma 34 21 8 5 68 19+49 71
3 Juventus 34 21 6 7 67 42+25 69 2004–05 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
4 Internazionale 34 17 8 9 59 37+22 59
5 Parma 34 16 10 8 57 46+11 58 2004–05 UEFA Cup First round
6 Lazio 34 16 8 10 52 38+14 56
7 Udinese 34 13 11 10 44 40+4 0501
8 Sampdoria 34 11 13 10 40 42−2 46
9 Chievo 34 11 11 12 36 37−1 44
10 Lecce 34 11 8 15 43 56−13 41
11 Brescia 34 9 13 12 52 57−5 40
12 Bologna 34 10 9 15 45 53−8 39
13 Reggina 34 6 16 12 29 45−16 34
14 Siena 34 8 10 16 41 54−13 34
15 Perugia (R) 34 6 14 14 44 56−12 32 Serie A qualification
16 Modena (R) 34 6 12 16 27 46−19 30 Relegation to Serie B
17 Empoli (R) 34 7 9 18 26 54−28 30
18 Ancona (R) 34 2 7 25 21 70−49 13

Source: Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1 Udinese gained entry to the 2004–05 UEFA Cup as Coppa Italia finalists Lazio and Juventus qualified for the 2004–05 UEFA Cup and the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League through league position, respectively.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Matches

Coppa Italia

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Group H
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Italy Milan 631243+110
Spain Celta Vigo 623176+19
Belgium Club Brugge 622256–18
Netherlands Ajax 620467–16

Knockout phase

Round of 16
Quarter-finals

Statistics

Goalscorers

References

  1. ↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/italy/2003-2004/seriea/milan.htm
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