Alessandro Plizzari (born 12 March 2000) is an Italian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. During the 2021–22 football season in Italy, Plizzari was part of the squads that won Serie A (AC Milan) and Serie B (Lecce), sharing halves of the season with each team.

Club career

AC Milan

Plizzari is a product of

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

. In July 2016, he was promoted to the first team as a backup goalkeeper and received his first-ever call up to the senior team ahead of a home Serie A game against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

played on 11 September 2016, remaining on the bench as an unused substitute. Despite his involvement with the first team, he continued to play for the ''Primavera'' (under-19) as a starting goalkeeper throughout the season. In late 2016, Milan rejected a €2 million bid for Plizzari from

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Loan to Ternana

On 4 July 2017, Plizzarri signed a contract extension with Milan until 2020 and was immediately sent on loan to

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria and currently compete in the Serie C. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A ...

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

until 30 June 2018. He made his professional debut at 17 years old, on 26 August 2017, in the league match against

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

. He finished his debut season with 20 appearances in all competitions, conceding a total of 40 goals and keeping one

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

Return to Milan

In April 2019, despite making no appearances in the 2018–19 season, Plizzari extended his contract with Milan until the end of June 2023.

Loan to Livorno

On 1 August 2019, he was loaned out to Serie B club

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

. He made his debut with Livorno on 5 October, playing as a starter in the league match against

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

Loan to Reggina

On 21 August 2020, he joined

Reggina Associazione Sportiva Reggina 1914, commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. They play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo and are currently playing in the Serie D league. ...

on loan.

Second return to Milan

Upon his return from the Reggina loan, he did not appear for Milan in the first half of the 2021–22 season, mostly recovering from a knee surgery.

Loan to Lecce

On 29 January 2022, he moved on loan to

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

Pescara

On 26 July 2022, Plizzari joined

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

after few years in Milan. On 30 August 2024, Plizzari signed a four-year contract with

and was loaned back to Pescara for the rest of the 2024–25 season. On 7 June 2025, Plizzari was instrumental in Pescara's promotion playoff win against

, providing multiple saves during the game and eventually saving three penalties out of four in the resulting shootout, despite an ankle injury he suffered during extra time.

International career

He was the first-choice goalkeeper for the Italy U17 squad at the

2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 15th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (34th edition if the Under-16 era is included), the annual European international youth football championship contested by the men's under- ...

, where Italy was eliminated at the group stage. He was on the roster for Italy U20 team at the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

, where he was the second-choice goalkeeper behind Andrea Zaccagno. He played once at the tournament, in the third-place game, in which Italy beat

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

in a penalty shootout after Plizzari saved two penalties by Uruguay players

Rodrigo Amaral Rodrigo Nahuel Amaral Pereira (born 25 March 1997) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Montevideo Wanderers. He started his career at Nacional, but left the club due to differences with management and joined Rac ...

and

Juan Manuel Boselli Juan Manuel Boselli Graf (born 9 November 1999) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Russian Premier League club Pari Nizhny Novgorod. Club career Defensor Sporting Having previously represented Defensor Sporting ...

. He was the starting goalkeeper for Italy U19 at the

2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2018) was the 17th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (67th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth foot ...

, as Italy finished runners-up to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The following year he took part in the

2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

with the Italy U20 squad, reaching the fourth place. He made his debut with the Italy U21 on 10 September 2019, in the 2021 UEFA Euro 2021 qualifying match won 5–0 against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Italy U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

runner-up:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Italy U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

third place:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Pescara *

Playoff Winner: 2024–25

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plizzari, Alessandro 2000 births Footballers from Crema, Lombardy Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers AC Milan players Ternana Calcio players US Livorno 1915 players AS Reggina 1914 players US Lecce players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Serie B players Serie C players Men's association football goalkeepers 21st-century Italian sportsmen