# 1961–62 AC Milan season

The 1961–62 season saw AC Milan compete in Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the Fairs Cup. The club went on to win the Serie A. In the Coppa Italia they were knocked out by Mondena who played in Serie B.

## Summary

The 1961–62 season gave way to Nereo Rocco as newly appointed manager and Dino Sani's arrival (replacing Jimmy Greaves in November) that provided President Andrea Rizzoli with the right amount of talent to aim for a championship win.
Young star Gianni Rivera initially struggled to gain playing time under new manager Nereo Rocco during the 1961–62 season, his second at the club, also being linked with loans to Vicenza and Juventus, but won his way back into the starting line-up and played a decisive role, scoring 10 goals in the league. Throughout the season, Rivera formed an important relationship with the legendary manager and catenaccio mastermind; he played a key role in the club's successes under Rocco, who subsequently built a hard-working, winning team around Rivera that complemented the midfielder's creative playing style.
The season started with success at home against Juventus (5-1), and then created an unstoppable winning streak for Milan, that would see them only lose once in twenty-one matches. It would also be a defeat for Juventus back in their own home town that year, as Milan delivered a 4–2 win.
It would seem Rocco's only regret of the 1961–62 season would be in the Milano Derby as Inter won with the result 2–0. In spite of those who accused the father and pioneer of the real catenaccio, Milan gave way to dominate the field with eighty-three goals scored in thirty-four games (an average of 2.4 goals per match) and with thirty-four goals conceded. While Juventus was nowhere near the top contention that year, Inter, Fiorentina, and Bologna were the only true runner-ups for the scudetto race.
That same year, Milan played in the Fourth Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (this was the predecessor of the UEFA Europa League Cup), however, Milan did not go far and lost in the first round against the Yugoslavian team Novi Sad.

## Season squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ITA | Luciano Alfieri |
| — | GK | ITA | Giorgio Ghezzi |
| — | GK | ITA | Mario Liberalato |
| — | DF | ITA | Cesare Maldini (Captain) |
| — | DF | ITA | Antonio Pasinato |
| — | DF | ITA | Luigi Radice |
| — | DF | ITA | Sandro Salvadore |
| — | DF | ITA | Giovanni Trapattoni |
| — | DF | ITA | Mario Trebbi |
| — | DF | ITA | Francesco Zagatti |
| — | MF | ITA | Mario David |
| — | MF | ITA | Giovanni Lodetti |
| — | MF | ITA | Ambrogio Pelagalli |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ITA | Gianni Rivera |
| — | MF | BRA | Dino Sani |
| — | MF | ITA | Sergio Tenente |
| — | FW | BRA | José Altafini |
| — | FW | ITA | Paolo Barison |
| — | FW | ITA | Bruno Beretti |
| — | FW | ITA | Oliviero Conti |
| — | FW | ITA | Giancarlo Danova |
| — | FW | ITA | Emanuele Del Vecchio |
| — | FW | URU | Alcides Ghiggia |
| — | FW | ITA | Gino Pivatelli |
| — | FW | ITA | Orlando Rozzoni |
| — | FW | ENG | Jimmy Greaves |

## Transfers
### In

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Oliviero Conti | Vicenza | - |
| FW | Giancarlo Danova | Torino | - |
| FW | Emanuele Del Vecchio | Padova Calcio | - |
| FW | Paolo Ferrario | Lazio | - |
| FW | Alcides Ghiggia | Roma | - |
| FW | Jimmy Greaves | Chelsea F.C. | - |
| GK | Mario Liberalato | Mestrina | - |
| DF | Antonio Pasinato | Lecce | - |
| MF | Ambrogio Pelagalli | Atalanta | - |
| FW | Gino Pivatelli | Napoli | - |
| FW | Orlando Rozzoni | Udinese | - |
| MF | Dino Sani | Boca Juniors | - |
| MF | Sergio Tenente | Ascoli | - |

### Out

Out :
| Pos. | Name | to | Type |
| FW | Giovanni Fanello | Napoli | - |
| FW | Carlo Galli | Udinese | - |
| DF | Luigi Garagna | Grosseto | - |
| FW | Jimmy Greaves | Tottenham Hotspur | - |
| MF | Nils Liedholm | - | retired |
| FW | Mario Maraschi | Lazio | - |
| DF | Gilberto Noletti | Lazio | - |
| DF | Pierluigi Ronzon | Napoli | - |
| FW | Santiago Vernazza | Vicenza | - |

### Loans

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ITA | Paolo Ferrario (to Lazio from November 1961) |

## Competitions
### Serie A
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Milan (C) | 34 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 83 | 36 | +47 | 53 | Qualified for the European Cup |
| 2 | Internazionale | 34 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 59 | 31 | +28 | 48 | |
| 3 | Fiorentina | 34 | 19 | 8 | 7 | 57 | 32 | +25 | 46 | |
| 4 | Bologna | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 57 | 41 | +16 | 45 | |
| 5 | Roma | 34 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 61 | 35 | +26 | 44 | Invited for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup |

#### Matches
### Fairs Cup
#### Round of 32
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| Competition | Points | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | GD |
| Competition | Points | G | W | D | L | Gs | Ga | G | W | D | L | Gs | Ga | G | W | D | L | Gs | Ga | GD |
| 1961-62 Serie A | 53 | 17 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 51 | 18 | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 18 | 34 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 83 | 36 | +47 |
| 1961-62 Coppa Italia | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| 1961-62 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup | – | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 1961-62 Coppa dell'Amicizia | – | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 10 | +10 |
| Total | – | 22 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 60 | 23 | 21 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 43 | 26 | 43 | 28 | 7 | 8 | 103 | 49 | +54 |

### Players statistics
#### Appearances

* 36.Cesare Maldini
* 35.José Altafini
* 34.Giovanni Trapattoni
* 33.Sandro Salvadore
* 32.Mario David
* 31.Giorgio Ghezzi
* 30.Gianni Rivera
* 29.Paolo Barison
* 29.Luigi Radice
* 24.Gino Pivatelli
* 23.Ambrogio Pelagalli
* 22.Dino Sani
* 20.Giancarlo Danova
* 17.Oliviero Conti
* 16.Francesco Zagatti
* 13.Jimmy Greaves
* 12.Mario Liberalato
* 12.Mario Trebbi
* 7.Giovanni Lodetti
* 6.Luciano Alfieri
* 6.Antonio Pasinato
* 5.Alcides Ghiggia
* 4.Orlando Rozzoni
* 4.Sergio Tenente
* 2.Emanuele Del Vecchio
* 1.Bruno Beretti
* 1.Paolo Ferrario

#### Goal scorers

* 22.José Altafini
* 9.Paolo Barison
* 6.Oliviero Conti
* 8.Giancarlo Danova
* 3.Mario David
* 2.Emanuele Del Vecchio
* 8.Jimmy Greaves
* 3.Giovanni Lodetti
* 1.Cesare Maldini
* 1.Ambrogio Pelagalli
* 9.Gino Pivatelli
* 1.Luigi Radice
* 10.Gianni Rivera
* 4.Orlando Rozzoni
* 8.Dino Sani
* 1.Francesco Zagatti