# 2004–05 AC Milan season

Associazione Calcio Milan began the 2004–05 season auspiciously by winning the 2004 Supercoppa Italiana, with a comfortable 3–0 victory over Lazio (the winners of the previous season's Coppa Italia), thanks to a hat-trick by Andriy Shevchenko.
The Serie A began with a 2–2 draw against Livorno. For most of the season, Milan were second to Juventus, in a close points race. However, after matchweeks 25 through 30, and again matchweeks 33 through 34, Milan were in first place. On 8 May 2005, Milan faced Juventus at home; by matchweek 35, the two had almost identical statistics of 76 points, 23 wins, 7 draws, and 4 defeats, with Milan's marginally superior goal difference of +36 against Juventus' +35 keeping them on top. Having lost the potential title deciding game 1–0 to a goal by David Trezeguet, Milan drew three more times afterwards and finished in the second place.
In the Champions League, Milan were successful and sure-footed, comfortably topping their group (which included Barcelona, Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk) and then knocking out Manchester United, cross-city rivals Inter and PSV Eindhoven, thus reaching their second Champions League final in three years. The final was against Liverpool. In the first half Ancelotti's men scored three goals, one from Paolo Maldini, the club captain, and two from Hernán Crespo. However, in the second half, the English opponents managed to do the same in just 6 minutes, meaning the match went to extra time. Milan were not able to find a fourth goal and had to face a penalty shoot-out. Unlike in 2003, Milan players went first and missed the first and second penalty kicks (taken by Serginho and Pirlo). Shevchenko, who scored the deciding penalty two years earlier, had to score from the fifth penalty to keep Milan in the game, but failed to beat Dudek, and Liverpool won the Champions League, in one of the most famous come-backs in European football history.
Throughout the season, Ancelotti mostly used the 4–4–2 diamond (or 4–1–2–1–2) formation, which he had previously employed with much success, especially in 2002–03; the fact that four top-quality strikers were available (Shevchenko, Crespo, Inzaghi and Tomasson) made it almost imperative that two of them would have to be used as regular starters. On rare occasions, however, formations with three centrebacks and two wingbacks (usually Cafu and Serginho), such as 3–5–2 or 3–4–1–2, were used.

## Players
### Squad information

    Squad at end of season
| Squad no. | Name | Position |
| Goalkeepers ||||
| 1 | Dida | GK |
| 17 | Christian Abbiati | GK |
| 12 | Valerio Fiori | GK |
| Defenders ||||
| 3 | Paolo Maldini (Captain) | CB / LB |
| 2 | Cafu | RB |
| 13 | Alessandro Nesta | CB |
| 31 | Jaap Stam | CB / RB |
| 4 | Kakha Kaladze | LB / CB |
| 5 | Alessandro Costacurta (Vice Captain) | CB |
| 14 | Dario Šimić | CB / RB |
| 27 | Serginho | LB |
| 26 | Giuseppe Pancaro | LB / RB |
| 30 | Harvey Esajas | LB |
| Midfielders ||||
| 21 | Andrea Pirlo | CM |
| 8 | Gennaro Gattuso | CM |
| 10 | Rui Costa | AM |
| 22 | Kaká | AM |
| 20 | Clarence Seedorf | CM / AM |
| 23 | Massimo Ambrosini | CM |
| 24 | Vikash Dhorasoo | CM |
| 32 | Cristian Brocchi | CM |
| Forwards ||||
| 7 | Andriy Shevchenko | CF |
| 11 | Hernán Crespo (on loan from Chelsea) | CF |
| 9 | Filippo Inzaghi | CF |
| 15 | Jon Dahl Tomasson | CF |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | FW | ITA | Nicola Pozzi (to Napoli) |
| 19 | DF | ARG | Fabricio Coloccini (to Deportivo La Coruña) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 45 | DF | ITA | Ignazio Abate (on loan to Napoli) |

### Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 40 | GK | ITA | Giuseppe Dei Forti |
| 41 | FW | ITA | Davide Barbieri |
| 42 | FW | ITA | Carlo Ferrario |
| 43 | DF | ITA | Elia Legati |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 45 | DF | ITA | Ignazio Abate |
| 46 | DF | ITA | Lino Marzoratti |
| 47 | DF | ITA | Romano Perticone |
| 50 | FW | ITA | Matteo Ardemagni |

## Transfers
### In
#### First-team

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving from | Type | Transfer window | Ends | Transfer fee | Source |
| 31 | DF | Jaap Stam | 31 | EU | Lazio | Transfer | Summer | 2006 | Undisclosed | BBC Sport |
| 24 | MF | Vikash Dhorasoo | 30 | EU | Lyon | Free transfer | Summer | 2006 | Free | UEFA |
| 30 | DF | Harvey Esajas | 29 | EU | | Free transfer | Summer | | Free | |
| 11 | FW | Hernán Crespo | 28 | | Chelsea | Loan | Summer | 2005 | Season-long loan | UEFA |
Total spending: €

### Out
#### First-team

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving to | Type | Transfer window | Transfer fee | Source |
| 5 | MF | Fernando Redondo | 35 | | Retired | End of contract | Summer | Free | |
| 11 | MF | Rivaldo | 32 | | Olympiacos | Transfer | Summer | | The Independent |
| 18 | FW | Marco Borriello | 22 | EU | Reggina | Loan | Summer | Season-long loan | Sky Sports |
| 24 | DF | Martin Laursen | 26 | | Aston Villa | Transfer | Summer | €3,000,000 | Aston Villa |
| 25 | DF | Roque Júnior | 27 | | Bayer Leverkusen | Free transfer | Summer | Free | ESPN |
| 19 | DF | Fabricio Coloccini | 23 | | Deportivo | Transfer | Winter | Undisclosed | World Soccer |

#### Reserves

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving to | Type | Transfer window | Transfer fee |
| 18 | FW | Nicola Pozzi | 18 | EU | Napoli | Loan | Summer | Loan |
| 42 | FW | Roberto Bortolotto | 19 | EU | Biellese | Transfer | Summer | |
| 43 | FW | Alessandro Matri | 19 | EU | Prato | Loan | Summer | Season-long loan |
| 45 | DF | Ignazio Abate | 17 | EU | Napoli | Loan | Summer | Season-long loan |
| 48 | MF | Patrick Kalambay | 20 | EU | Fermana | Loan | Summer | Season-long loan |
| 51 | MF | Claiton | 19 | | Prato | Loan | Summer | Six-month loan |
| 52 | FW | Michele Piccolo | 18 | EU | Prato | Loan | Summer | Six-month loan |
| 41 | MF | Mattia Dal Bello | 20 | EU | | Deceased | Winter | |

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss

### Serie A
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Juventus | 38 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 67 | 27 | +40 | 86 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Milan | 38 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 63 | 28 | +35 | 79 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Internazionale | 38 | 18 | 18 | 2 | 65 | 37 | +28 | 72 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Udinese | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 56 | 40 | +16 | 62 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Sampdoria | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 42 | 29 | +13 | 61 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
* ↑ Juventus were stripped of the title during the 2005–06 Serie A season, because of the 2006 Italian football scandal

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Competitive matches

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | D | W | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | W | W | L | D | D | D |
| Position | 11 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Champions League
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Milan | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Barcelona | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 6 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Celtic | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 5 | |

#### Knockout phase
##### Final
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

    As of 31 June 2005
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | Supercoppa Italiana | Supercoppa Italiana | Champions League | Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | BRA | Dida | 50 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | BRA | Cafu | 46 | 1 | 31+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | ITA | Nesta | 44 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | NED | Stam | 28 | 1 | 15+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | ITA | Maldini | 46 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| 21 | MF | ITA | Pirlo | 42 | 5 | 26+4 | 4 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | ITA | Gattuso | 44 | 0 | 28+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | NED | Seedorf | 48 | 7 | 26+6 | 5 | 3+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11+1 | 1 |
| 22 | MF | BRA | Kaká | 50 | 9 | 33+3 | 7 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11+1 | 2 |
| 7 | FW | UKR | Shevchenko | 39 | 25 | 27+2 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 5 |
| 11 | FW | ARG | Crespo | 40 | 17 | 24+4 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 7+3 | 6 |
| 17 | GK | ITA | Abbiati | 8 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | GEO | Kaladze | 25 | 2 | 18+1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | DEN | Tomasson | 39 | 9 | 17+13 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2+3 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | POR | Rui Costa | 37 | 1 | 15+9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4+4 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | ITA | Pancaro | 23 | 1 | 12+6 | 1 | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ITA | Ambrosini | 37 | 4 | 9+13 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3+7 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | ITA | Costacurta | 22 | 0 | 8+6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | FRA | Dhorasoo | 20 | 0 | 8+4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | ITA | Brocchi | 16 | 1 | 7+4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | BRA | Serginho | 31 | 6 | 6+16 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+4 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ITA | Inzaghi | 15 | 1 | 4+7 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 |
| 14 | DF | CRO | Simic | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | ARG | Coloccini | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 46 | DF | ITA | Marzoratti | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | NED | Esajas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | DF | ITA | Perticone | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 31 June 2005 Source: Competitions