The 2011–12 season was Associazione Calcio Milan's 78th season in Serie A, and their 29th consecutive season in the top-flight of Italian football.
Milan were the defending Serie A champions, and were aiming for a second straight title. Despite a slow start, they had been able to build up a four-point lead in the table over Juventus by March. In the last nine games of the season, however, Milan picked up only five wins, with two draws and two losses, allowing Juventus (who themselves recorded ten wins and one draw over their last eleven games) to regain the lead and win the title by four points.
As the previous year's Serie A champions, Milan began their season contesting the Supercoppa Italiana against Coppa Italia holders Internazionale, winning the match 2–1. The Rossoneri also competed in the UEFA Champions League and reached the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by Barcelona. They took part in the Coppa Italia as well, being knocked out in the semi-finals against Juventus.
Pre-season and friendlies Milan began their pre-season training at Milanello on Tuesday, 12 July 2011. The following week, on 20 July, they contested the first friendly, an away match against neighboring side Solbiatese Arno. The Rossoneri easily won with a score of 12–0.
As part of the Audi Cup, Milan then played two friendlies against Bayern Munich and Internacional at the Allianz Arena in Munich on 26 and 27 July, respectively. The first game finished 1–1. Zlatan Ibrahimović opened the scoring only for Toni Kroos to equalize late in the first half. Milan subsequently lost 5–3 on penalties, with Alberto Paloschi committing the only, and eventually deciding, error. The second game was a 2–2 draw. Ibrahimović once again opened the scoring, before Leandro Damião equalized in the 20th minute, and then Milan took a new lead through Alexandre Pato in the 60th minute only for Andrés D'Alessandro to tie the game ten minutes from time. The Rossoneri were defeated 2–0 on penalties, being unable to convert any of their four attempts.
After travelling to China, where they played their first competitive match of the season, a 2–1 win over city rivals Internazionale in the Supercoppa Italiana on 6 August, Milan resumed their pre-season schedule facing Malmö FF in Sweden on 14 August. The Rossoneri took the lead in 27th minute when Urby Emanuelson raced into the box and crossed the ball to Antonio Cassano, who easily headed it in. Malmö equalised nine minutes later through Jimmy Durmaz, who curled a shot from just outside the penalty area. Three minutes into the second half, Malmö took a 2–1 lead when Tobias Malm stole the ball in midfield, combined with Alexander Nilsson and finally beat Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati. Milan managed to equalise in the last minute of the game, as a cross by Cassano was headed in by youth team player Kingsley Boateng. With no extra time, the match was to be decided by a three-kick penalty shoot-out, which Milan won 3–2, as Abbiati pulled off a save on Malmö's third attempt.
Four days later, Milan returned to Italy to contest the TIM Trophy. They took on Juventus in the second game of the evening, after the latter had lost the first game to Inter on penalties. Milan took the lead in the 13th minute through Antonio Cassano, but Juventus fought back, equalising eight minutes later with Arturo Vidal and scoring the winning goal in injury time through Alessandro Matri. The Rossoneri also lost the third and final game against Inter, with Diego Milito scoring the lone goal, thus allowing them to win the trophy.
Milan concluded their pre-season with the annual Luigi Berlusconi Trophy, in which they played against Juventus at the San Siro on 21 August. Kevin-Prince Boateng opened the scoring for the Rossoneri in the ninth minute, volleying past Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from a cross by Ignazio Abate. Fourteen minutes later, Milan doubled their lead, as Clarence Seedorf scored with a curled free-kick off the post. In the second half, Milan players looked more tired and Juventus managed to pull one back through Mirko Vučinić, but the Rossoneri held on to win the game 2–1.
Following the players' strike that forced the postponement of the first weekend of league fixtures, however, Milan announced they would play another friendly match, away against Como, on 1 September. The Rossoneri took the lead in the 22nd minute through Massimo Ambrosini, who was set up by Stephan El Shaarawy, but the hosts equalised two minutes later with a goal from Umberto Miello. In the second half, Urby Emanuelson converted a penalty to give Milan the final lead.
On 4 January 2012, Milan played their first game of the new year with a friendly against French side Paris Saint-Germain in Dubai for the Emirates Challenge. The game got off to a good start for Milan as Ibrahimović drew the goalkeeper out of his goal and passed to Alexandre Pato for the opener in the fourth minute. The game progressed with neither team looking much better than the other, but both could not convert any more chances and the game ended 1–0 in Milan's favour.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF – AScorersAttendance 20 July 2011 Solbiatese Arno A 12 – 0 Seedorf , Viscomi , Cassano , Valoti , Flamini , Ibrahimović ,Paloschi , Zambrotta , Emanuelson , Inzaghi , Comi 4,500 26 July 2011 Bayern Munich A 1 – 1(3 – 5p) Ibrahimović n/a 28 July 2011 Internacional N 2 – 2(0 – 2p) Ibrahimović , Pato n/a 14 August 2011 Malmö A 2 – 2(3 – 2p) Cassano , Kingsley Boateng 23,180 18 August 2011 Juventus(45 mins) N 1 – 2 Cassano n/a 18 August 2011 Internazionale(45 mins) N 0 – 1 n/a 21 August 2011 Juventus H 2 – 1 Boateng , Seedorf 41,302 1 September 2011 Como A 2 – 1 Ambrosini , Emanuelson 3,500 4 January 2012 Paris Saint-Germain N 1 – 0 Pato n/a
Supercoppa Italiana
As Serie A Champions, Milan kicked their season off with an appearance in the Supercoppa Italiana, facing Coppa Italia holders, Internazionale at the Beijing National Stadium on 6 August. Inter took the lead after 21 minutes with a 25-yard free kick by Wesley Sneijder. Later on, the Rossoneri nearly leveled the score when a header by Zlatan Ibrahimović struck the post. On the hour mark, Milan managed to equalise, as Ibrahimović headed into an empty net a cross by Clarence Seedorf. Ten minutes later, a shot by Alexandre Pato was deflected by Inter goalkeeper Júlio César on the post only for Kevin-Prince Boateng to convert from close range, setting the final score to 2–1. For Milan, it was the sixth time they won the trophy, making them the most successful club in the history of the competition.
Serie A
Starting line-up. Despite his high number of appearances during the season, Urby Emanuelson was often being considered a jolly, that is a substitute able to play in many different roles (in Emanuelson's case, mainly as left midfielder, trequartista or, more rarely, left-back).
The fixtures for the 2011–12 Serie A season were announced by the Serie A on 27 July. Milan were to kick-off their schedule away at Cagliari on Saturday, 27 August, but following a strike declared by Serie A players over the lack of a collective bargaining agreement, the first day of the league season has been postponed to a future date.
Following another week off for an international break, Milan started their season, playing host to Lazio on Friday, 9 September. A few minutes into the game, newly signed Alberto Aquilani broke into the Lazio penalty area, but one on one with goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri, he fired straight at him. Instead, it was Lazio who took the lead, as in 12th minute Miroslav Klose took down Stefano Mauri's cross, turned inside Alessandro Nesta and beat goalkeeper Christian Abbiati. Less than ten minutes later, Lazio scored again through Djibril Cissé, who headed in another cross by Mauri. Milan pulled one back in the 29th minute, when Antonio Cassano, set up by Aquilani inside the box, passed the ball to Zlatan Ibrahimović for the tap-in. Four minutes later, Cassano himself tied the game with a header from a corner. Eighteen minutes into the second half, Cassano went close to find the winning goal, hitting the outside of the left post. Lazio had a chance of his own two minutes later, as Cissé nudged the ball past Abbiati and heading to the goal, before Nesta managed to touch it wide. The match finished in a 2–2 draw.
For the next game, Milan travelled to Naples to take on Napoli in the evening of Sunday, 18 September. Both teams had played Champions League ties in midweek, Milan drawing 2–2 at Barcelona on Tuesday and Napoli drawing 1–1 at Manchester City on Wednesday. The Rossoneri were also in the midst of an injury crisis, with as many as seven players out, including the previous season's topscorer, Zlatan Ibrahimović. Nonetheless, Milan took the lead eleven minutes into the game through Alberto Aquilani, who scored his first goal for the club, heading Antonio Cassano's cross past Napoli goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis. The hosts reaction came only two minutes later, as Edinson Cavani found the equaliser following a free-kick. Napoli started to press forward and in the 36th minute they went ahead with another goal by Cavani on a fast-paced counter-attack. Milan had a chance to pull level when Aquilani was once again set up inside the box by Cassano, but the effort was denied by De Sanctis' save. A few minutes after the break, Cavani completed his hat-trick, making it 3–1 after Milan's defence failed to clear the ball inside the area. The Rossoneri tried to fight back but produced no major threats until the final whistle.
Three days later, Milan took the field again, playing host to unbeaten Udinese at the San Siro. The Rossoneri lost Alexandre Pato to an injury in the 21st minute and eight minutes later they went down 1–0, as goalkeeper Christian Abbiati failed to control a cross by Gabriel Torje, fumbling the ball for an Antonio Di Natale empty net tap-in. Moments before the interval, Milan nearly leveled the score when a free-kick from just outside the penalty area by Clarence Seedorf struck the post to the left of goalkeeper Samir Handanović. Eighteen minutes into the second half, the Rossoneri did tie the game: Antonio Cassano set up Stephan El Shaarawy inside the box for the Italian to fire home a low drive to the far post. Udinese later had three chances to win before the final whistle, hitting the woodwork once and then forcing Abbiati to make two crucial saves to preserve the 1–1 tie.
Pato's absence intensified Milan's already deep injury crisis, as he joined strikers Zlatan Ibrahimović and Robinho, midfielders Massimo Ambrosini, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Gennaro Gattuso and Mathieu Flamini and defenders Luca Antonini, Daniele Bonera and Philippe Mexès on the sidelines. Nonetheless, on Saturday, 24 September, Milan achieved their first league win of the season, beating Cesena 1–0 at the San Siro. Clarence Seedorf scored the lone goal, firing a 25-yard curled shot, following a corner kick.