Milan Circle
On 23 May, in addition to 23 May 2007, the anniversary of Athens' seventh Champions League victory, Milan also won their 16th Serie A title after their centenary.
The 1998/99 season was an important season for AC Milan to be born in a hundred rounds, which was a very unforgettable year for Milan, because this 16th league title was extremely special compared to other seasons, because the process of winning the championship was full of twists and turns, thrilling, an extraordinary league championship, and the most exciting one in the minds of many Milan fans.
That season, Milan recruited Zacheroni from Udinese, he brought two old German air tyrants Bierhoff and Danish defender Herwig, and introduced German goalkeeper Lechmann, plus the original Boban, Via, Leonardo, Maldini, Albertini and other experienced players.
However, Milan started badly, with Batistuta scoring a hat-trick in San Siro by Batistuta in the 3rd round, and Lechmann made a low-level mistake in receiving the ball in the penalty area, and was whistled off an indirect free kick, and Ribadi gao slammed into the dragon goal.
In the 5th round, Milan lost 0-1 to Cagliari, but the game was a very strange defeat. Lechmann struck out and collided with his own man, was shot into the empty goal by the opponent, and then Lechmann saved the opponent in the penalty area and lost twelve yards, also injuring himself and being forced to go. Although the defender Rosi pounced on twelve yards, Bierhoff also fouled a twelve-yarder and lost 0-1.
It was only after the fifth round that Lechmann was completely in the cold, and the main player who later shined in Arsenal and was the host of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but left in Milan disappointed with 5 goals.
By the 11th round, Milan were defeated 4-0 by Palma's Chiesa, Paulusson and Kisp. At this time, after 11 rounds of matches, Milan only scored 18 points in the league table, and no one thought that this was the team that later won the Championship of The League.
By the last round of the first round of the league, the 17th round, Milan narrowly won 2-1 against Perugia, but was given a penalty of twelve yards before the end of the game, and shot by Hidetoshi Nakata, after which Rossi suddenly punched the opposing player Bucchi, and the ball card was immediately awarded a red card to drive Rossi out of the field, and then suspended for five games. At this time, Milan had to play in the second half of Serie A, and the 21-year-old Abbitti, who had never played in Serie A. Milan finished with the 3rd goalkeeper in one season.
In the second half of the league, Milan, with many wounded soldiers, in addition to using Abiati, was forced to use young people such as Salad, Ambrosini, Gullivanpai road and Koko.
The biggest competitor of the season was Lazio, who owned Nedved, Vieri, Serras, Mancini, Posi, Mihajlovic and other famous players. Lazio had a record of 13 wins and 2 draws in 15 matches from round 12 to Round 26, giving him a seven-point lead before round 27 against Milan. As a result, Lazio won 0-0 at home to Milan in the 27th round, and in the 7th round of the league, everyone thought that Lazio could win the championship smoothly in his form.
But then in the 28th and 29th rounds, Lazio lost consecutively to Roma and Juventus. Milan also embarked on an epic counterattack, starting with a winning streak from the 28th round against Lazio. Before the last two rounds, Lazio was still one point ahead of Milan. In the 33rd round of Lazio vs Ferrentina, Buddy opened the scoring above 15 minutes before Bobo trailed 1-1. At the same time, Bierhoff scored a hat-trick, and with Lee Annadu scoring a goal, Milan swept Emporry 4-0.
After the 33rd round, Milan scored 67 points and Lazio scored 66 points. In the last round, Milan visited Perugia and Lazio at home to Parma, and Milan must win to secure Serie A.
On 23 May 1999, in the sunny afternoon in Italy, Milan's main line-up for Perugia was as follows:
Abbiati, Sala, Costacurta, P. Maldini, Helveg, Ambrosini, Albertini, Guglielminpietro, Boban, Bierhoff, Weah.
Speaking about the match in an interview in 2017, Abiati said: "We were all very nervous before the start of the game against Perugia and I felt a strange atmosphere around us because at that time, except for some of the older players, most of our team were young or just new players in Serie A, and we didn't know how to deal with this game."
Back to 1999....
Gullivan sent a long-range shot from the top of the penalty area in the 11th minute to open the scoring, and all Milan fans cheered!!
Aerial tyrant Bierhoff received a corner kick from Abertini in the 31st minute to rewrite the commemoration to 2-0. News came from another pitch in the 76th minute that Lazio scored to give Parma a 2-1 lead over Parma with a goal from Serras.
The time for tension came, and in the 79th minute, Milan's serene Sera made a mistake in the penalty area and knocked the opponent low, and Milan again gave Perugia twelve yards, which was shot by Hidetoshi Nakata as in the first round.
Milan were nervous at this point and would lose their title if They were to be equalised by Perugia in the last 10 minutes.
Bucchi, who was punched by Rossi in the first round, appeared as if in retaliation, and in the last minute on the right side of the penalty area, although he was closely followed by Costa Gouda, he still shot a powerful corner shot, but fortunately Abiati flew to block the ball and saved Milan's title.
Abiati spoke about the goal during a visit in 2017: "The save I made when I was 2-1 was incredible until the team got the championship. At first, I thought I made a good save, but over time I realized it was a no-brainer. To this day in 2017, fans still stop and ask me about Bucchi's ball. I remember that afternoon I was really nervous when Perugia fans started throwing smoke bombs and torches at the pitch, which was more likely to delay the game. I was so happy that year that I had "Briciolina di pane" printed on my shirt, which I dedicated to Stefania when he was my girlfriend. She was pregnant with Giulia, our daughter, who was born in January, so the Serie A title won in 1999 is a very special place in my life."
Hong Kong AC Milan Fans' Club
May 23