Luca Antonini (; born 4 August 1982) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

former

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who played as a defender. He is best known for his five seasons with

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 ...

, for which he played from 2008 until 2013. During that time, he made 111 appearances for the club in all competitions, scored one goal, and won the

2010–11 Serie A The 2010–11 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 109th season of top-tier Italian football, the 79th in a round-robin tournament, and the 1st since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B ...

as the team's starting

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Early career

Antonini started his career at

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 ...

, originally as a winger, playing for 11 years in their youth teams. At the start of the 2001–02 season, he was loaned out to

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

side

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

, where he made his professional debut, totalling 26 appearances and scoring 3 goals. The following year, he made 17 appearances and scored one goal in his first

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 ...

season, during a loan spell at

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

. The team got promoted to

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 ...

and Antonini's contribution was significant, as he became a regular in the second half of the season.

Sampdoria (2003–2004)

In June 2003 he moved to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

in a co-ownership deal with the ''Rossoneri'', for

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2 million. In exchange, Ikechukwu Kalu moved to Milan in co-ownership deal for €1 million. He did not get much playing time, as he served mainly as a backup winger for Gasbarroni. However, he made his Serie A debut on 14 December, in an away match against

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

Various loan spells (2004–2007)

The following season, he returned to play in

, being first loaned out to

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

and then switching, during the January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, to

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 ...

. Still seeking more playing time, for the 2005–06 season he moved to

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

on another loan spell, where he finally managed to play regularly throughout the whole season, making 39 appearances and scoring 3 goals. At the beginning of the 2006–07 season, the then 24-year-old midfielder was sent to

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

on a fourth consecutive loan spell and faced his second

season, which proved much more successful than the first one. He made 32 appearances and scored 3 goals. In particular, his very first goal in the top-tier came on 26 November, in a home game against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

Empoli (2007–2008)

Prior to the start of the 2007–08 season, Milan reclaimed Antonini for €1 million and sent him to

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 ...

also for €1 million, along with his future teammate

Ignazio Abate Ignazio Abate (; born 12 November 1986) is an Italian professional football coach and a former full-back. Although naturally a winger, he could also play as a wide midfielder, wing-back, and on rare occasions, as a centre-back. As a player, A ...

(the 50 % valued €0.9 million), in a new co-ownership deal. With Empoli, Antonini made his debut in European competitions on 20 September 2007, in a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

first-round game against

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, also scoring a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

. Despite the team being relegated, he had an extremely good season, also showing versatility when coach

Alberto Malesani Alberto Malesani (; born 5 June 1954) is an Italian football manager and former player. As a manager, he is mostly remembered for his successful spell with Parma during the late 1990s, with whom they won the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup, and the ...

started to employ him as a full-back.

Return to Milan (2008–2013)

On 9 June 2008, Antsizedwienie was brought back by Milan and included in their squad for €2.75 million plus €150,000 other fee, in a pure player swap. (Antonini and Abate to Milan for a total fee of €4.75 million, Pozzi and Marzoratti to Empoli for a total fee of €4.75 million) In his first season with the ''Rossoneri'', he did not get much playing time though, making only 11 league appearances. For the 2009–10 campaign, Milan signed a new head coach Leonardo, who initially did not seem to take Antonini into much consideration. However, as the season progressed,

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to first-string players such as Zambrotta and Jankulovski prompted the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian to put him in the line-up. Antonini seized his chance and earned Leonardo's trust by constantly performing well. His valuable performances also persuaded the club to offer him a

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

extension until 2014, which was signed on 11 February 2010. He finished his second year at Milan on a high, scoring his first goal for the ''Rossoneri'' in the last match of the season, a home game against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, on 15 May 2010. When new coach Massimiliano Allegri was appointed in the summer of 2010, he kept Antonini at the left-back position and Luca was a regular in the starting XI for the whole of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, helping Milan win their 18th Scudetto. He continued to be a regular for the 2011–12 season, where Milan disappointingly finished second to Juventus but managed to win the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

in the summer of 2011.

Genoa (2013–2015)

At the start of the 2013–14 season, Antonini left Milan to join

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

as part of a deal which saw midfielder Valter Birsa move the other way. He made 26 appearances in Serie A, scoring two goals, in his first season with the Grifone. The following season, he made just seven appearances and was then released by the club.

Ascoli and Livorno loan (2015–2016)

Antonini joined

side Ascoli on 4 September 2015. On 1 February 2016, he moved to

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 ...

on a half-season loan.

Return to Prato (2016)

On 22 July 2016, Antonini signed with

Lega Pro The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...

, the team with which he originally made his professional debut. On 23 November 2016, Prato has announced that Antonini's contract was mutually terminated following his willingness to end his playing career. As revealed in the press release, Antonini will be appointed as a member of staff in the youth sector of the club.

International career

Antonini made up a total of 5

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with Italy U-17 and U-18, between 1999 and 2001. However, he did not receive any further call-up at higher levels of youth international football. Nine years later, Antonini got his first call-up for the senior team; newly appointed coach

Cesare Prandelli Claudio Cesare Prandelli (; born 19 August 1957) is an Italian former football coach and former player. Playing career Prandelli was a midfielder who moved from Atalanta to Juventus in 1979. His first game for Juventus was in the 1979–80 Eur ...

named him in the squad for a friendly against

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, to be played on 10 August 2010. However, he was left as an unused substitute.

Style of play

Antonini used to be a dynamic and versatile footballer who had been employed as a winger in his youth and as a full-back later in his career. Although naturally right-footed, he was good on the ball with his left foot and could play on either flank. His running speed and stamina allowed him to contribute both offensively and defensively.

Personal life

Antonini is married to Benedetta Balleggi, whom he first met at the time he was in

. The couple have two daughters, Sofia Vittoria (b. 2007) and Viola Maria (b. 2010).

Career statistics

''Updated 31 January 2018''. ¹European competitions include

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and

²Other tournaments include

and

Coppa Italia Serie C Coppa Italia Serie C (), formerly named Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie C in Italian football first held in 1972. Format There are a total of six rounds in the competition. It begins i ...

Honours

AC Milan *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

References and notes

External links

Profile
at Assocalciatori.it
International caps
at FIGC.it * {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonini, Luca 1982 births Living people Footballers from Milan Men's association football midfielders Italian men's footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players AC Milan players UC Sampdoria players Siena FC SSD players Empoli FC players AC Prato players AC Ancona players Modena FC 2018 players Delfino Pescara 1936 players SS Arezzo players Genoa CFC players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players US Livorno 1915 players 21st-century Italian sportsmen