In 2003–04, Associazione Calcio Milan managed to claim their first

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

title since 1998–99. Arguably, this was the pinnacle of

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

's Milan side, as the players proved they had the ability to perform effectively for the whole season.

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

both scored more and conceded fewer goals than Milan, but the effectiveness the Milanese showed in tight matches ensured their winning margin was edged out to a stable 11 points. The title was sealed against Roma at home, with a goal by

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian former Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player. Shevchenko is considered one of the greatest Striker (association football), strik ...

proving enough for a 1–0 win. In the Champions League, Milan failed to defend their European title, as they were knocked out in the quarter-finals, losing 4–0 to

Deportivo la Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

in the second leg, after they had won 4–1 at home. Individually, the biggest surprise was how the Brazilian

trequartista In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at A.C. Milan, AC Mil ...

seamlessly found his way into the Italian game, being a key player in Milan's success. The other two arrivals,

Cafu Marcos Evangelista de Morais (born 7 June 1970), known as Cafu (), is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, right-back. Widely regarded as one of the greates ...

and

Giuseppe Pancaro Giuseppe Pancaro (; born 26 August 1971) is a former Italian football defender turned coach. Club career Born in Cosenza, Calabria, Pancaro started his youth career with Acri. He later moved to the Torino FC Youth squad remaining with the club ...

, also integrated well with the team.

was crowned as

European Footballer of the Year The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. Conceived by sports writers Gabriel Hanot and Jac ...

on the back of his successful season. Tactically, Ancelotti used two different formations throughout the season; the 4–4–2 diamond (or 4–1–2–1–2) and the 4–3–2–1.

Players

:''Squad at end of season''

Transfers

Winter

Reserve squad

Competitions

Supercoppa Italiana

UEFA Super Cup

Serie A

League table

Results summary

Results by round

Matches

Coppa Italia

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Knockout phase

=Round of 16

=Quarter-finals

Intercontinental Cup

Statistics

Players statistics

Goalscorers

24 (1 pen.) *

Jon Dahl Tomasson Jon Dahl Tomasson (; born 29 August 1976) is a Danish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of the Sweden national team. A forward, his most notable run of football came in his first stint at Feyenoord, with whom he wo ...

12 (1 pen.) *

10 *

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former professional player. Considered one of the greatest Midfielder (association football)#Deep-lying playmaker, mi ...

6 (3 pen.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 A.C. Milan season AC Milan seasons

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...