Milan’s historic victory in the Italian championship is a personal victory for coach Stefano Pioli, the gentle and calm godfather of young talents who imposed themselves on the path to the Scudetto.

In a league where managers often throw tantrums before and after matches, Pioli is a relatively level-headed figure who rarely loses his temper in public and wins unmistakable sympathy from his players.

Players like Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who left the club as a free agent for Paris Saint-Germain, weathered Milan’s defeat and adapted to lead a vibrant squad of young talents like Sandro Tonali. Fikayo Tomori from England.

Milan’s victory in their first league title since 2011 is Pioli’s first major title as a manager and is considered a remarkable honor, achieved at the age of fifty-six after a training career that had not previously pointed to such a pinnacle. .

Before coming to Milan, Pioli became famous for being the coach of Fiorentina when, in March 2018, Viola team captain David Astori was found dead in a hotel room before the match against Udinese.

Bewley showed his ability to manage things after that emotional tragedy by getting Astori a tattoo in memory of the famous player.

“We were together for a short time, but it was an experience that will keep us together for the rest of my life,” Bewley said last year.

“Every time I get an unexpected phone call, I relive the shock that I don’t think any of us went through,” he added.

– give confidence –

When Pioli arrived at Milan in October 2019, six months after leaving Fiorentina, he was supposed to take over after Marco Gambaolo, the eccentric manager and the last manager the Rossoneri were to have for eight unfortunate years since their last championship win.

Expectations were low that Pioli could do much with a team that had won three games and lost four of their first seven matches, and a contract until the end of the season showed little faith on the part of Milan management.

Initial results were no more encouraging than under Gambaolo, with just three wins between Pioli’s appointment and the winter break.

A humiliating 5-0 loss to Atalanta in the last games of 2019 was perhaps the worst moment of Pioli’s career and sparked big calls for his sacking. But after the arrival of veteran Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Christmas, something has changed.

Initially backed by the Swedish superstar, Milan moved up to sixth and qualified for Europe, with good results eventually leading to Milan not signing Ralph Rangnick and giving Pioli a chance to push the club forward.

That faith in Pioli has paid off for both sides, for him and for the club, where he finished second last season and is now followed by a league title no one expected at the start of the season.

Now Pioli and AC Milan are working side by side to bring one of Europe’s oldest teams back to the top of the game.