# 1958–59 AC Milan season

During 1958–59 season Milan competed in Serie A and Coppa Italia.

## Summary

In the 1958-1959 season the managerial lead of the club was entrusted to Luigi Bonizzoni, while Gipo Viani remained at Milan as technical director. The latter would cover this role until the 1964-1965 season. Cucchiaroni left, and striker José Altafini was signed from Palmeiras and immediately became a protagonist in his first season, scoring 28 goals, while Sandro Salvadore joined from the youth team. The other reinforcement for the Rossoneri was midfielder Vincenzo Occhetta.
In the league, the club immediately took the lead, but on the sixth matchday the defeat against Lanerossi Vicenza cost them the first place, which they lost to Fiorentina. Two weeks later, on the 16th of November, Milan conquered the field of the defending champions Juventus in the ninetieth minute at the end of a match that ended with a score of 4-5, and caught the Viola at the top of the standings. The two teams thus started a duel that lasted until the end of the first half of the season, which Milan finished at the top of the table. The second half of the season continued along the lines of the first, with Milan and Fiorentina competing for first place: with the victory in Florence, the Rossoneri overtook the Viola, but the home draw against Spal, a week later, nullified everything. One week later, the turning point occurred: on the 26th of April, Spal beat Fiorentina, while Milan draw 3-3 against bottom-of-the-table Torino. During the match a fight breaks out which sent two Milan players to the infirmary, with the sports judge not awarding the victory to Milan who still managed to maintain the one point lead until the end.
By beating Udinese 7-0, Milan became Italian Champions with a round to spare, trailing Fiorentina by three points: it was the seventh scudetto in their history.
In the Coppa Italia, Milan was eliminated for the second consecutive year by Bologna, this time in the round of 16.

## 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 |
| — | GK | ITA | Lorenzo Buffon (vice-captain) |
| — | GK | ITA | Bruno Ducati |
| — | GK | ITA | Narciso Soldan |
| — | DF | ITA | Cesare Maldini |
| — | DF | ITA | Luigi Radice |
| — | DF | ITA | Sandro Salvadore |
| — | DF | ITA | Mario Trebbi |
| — | DF | ITA | Francesco Zagatti |
| — | MF | ITA | Giancarlo Bacci |
| — | MF | ITA | Eros Beraldo |
| — | MF | ITA | Alfio Fontana |
| — | MF | ARG | Ernesto Grillo |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | SWE | Nils Liedholm (Captain) |
| — | MF | ITA | Giancarlo Migliavacca |
| — | MF | ITA | Vincenzo Occhetta |
| — | MF | ITA | Cesare Reina |
| — | MF | URU | Juan Alberto Schiaffino |
| — | FW | BRA | José Altafini |
| — | FW | ITA | Gastone Bean |
| — | FW | ITA | Giancarlo Danova |
| — | FW | ITA | Paolo Ferrario |
| — | FW | ITA | Carlo Galli |
| — | FW | ITA | Vittorino Mantovani |

## Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | José Altafini | Palmeiras | – |
| MF | Vittorino Mantovani | Treviso | – |
| DF | Vincenzo Occhetta | Marzotto Valdagno | – |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | to | Type |
| FW | Dario Baruffi | Hellas Verona | – |
| DF | Giancarlo Beltrami | Hellas Verona | – |
| DF | Mario Bergamaschi | Sampdoria | – |
| MF | Per Bredesen | Bari | – |
| DF | Roberto Corradi | Treviso | – |
| FW | Ernesto Cucchiaroni | Sampdoria | – |
| DF | Eros Fassetta | Hellas Verona | – |
| DF | Franco Landri | Forlì | – |
| FW | Luciano Magistrelli | Treviso | – |
| FW | Amos Mariani | Padova Calcio | – |
| FW | Pietro Testa | Forlì | – |
| MF | Luigi Zannier | Padova Calcio | – |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Milan (C) | 34 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 84 | 32 | +52 | 52 | Qualification to European Cup |
| 2 | Fiorentina | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 95 | 35 | +60 | 49 | |
| 3 | Internazionale | 34 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 77 | 41 | +36 | 46 | |
| 4 | Juventus | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 74 | 51 | +23 | 42 | |
| 5 | Sampdoria | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 38 | |

#### Matches
### Coppa Italia

Italian Football Federation re-lived the knock-out tournament after fifteen years with two editions in season 1958–59. The first edition was played before the kick-off of Serie A tournament due to 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying which starting on 28 September 1958. The second edition was played during the Serie A championship.

#### 1958–59 Coppa Italia
##### Eightfinals
### Friendship Cup
## Statistics

| Competition | Points | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | DR |
| Competition | Points | G | W | D | L | Gs | Ga | G | W | D | L | Gs | Ga | G | W | D | L | Gs | Ga | DR |
| 1958–59 Serie A | 52 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 58 | 13 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 26 | 19 | 34 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 84 | 32 | +52 |
| 1958 Coppa Italia1958–59 Coppa Italia | Eightfinals | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 9 | +3 |
| 1959 Friendship Cup | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | – | 20 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 68 | 19 | 19 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 31 | 25 | 39 | 21 | 9 | 5 | 99 | 44 | +55 |

### Players statistics
#### Appearances

* 38.Alfio Fontana
* 38.Cesare Maldini
* 37.José Altafini
* 36.Francesco Zagatti
* 35.Giancarlo Danova
* 34.Carlo Galli
* 32.Nils Liedholm
* 30.Ernesto Grillo
* 29.Vincenzo Occhetta
* 29.Juan Alberto Schiaffino
* 26.Lorenzo Buffon
* 20.Gastone Bean
* 12.Giancarlo Bacci
* 12.Narciso Soldan
* 5.Luigi Radice
* 5.Sandro Salvadore
* 4.Eros Beraldo
* 3.Bruno Ducati
* 3.Paolo Ferrario
* 3.Giancarlo Migliavacca
* 2.Mario Trebbi
* 1.Vittorino Mantovani
* 1.Cesare Reina

#### Goalscorers

* 32.José Altafini
* 21.Giancarlo Danova
* 12.Carlo Galli
* 10.Ernesto Grillo
* 5.Giancarlo Bacci
* 4.Gastone Bean
* 4.Vincenzo Occhetta
* 2.Nils Liedholm
* 2.Juan Alberto Schiaffino
* 1.Paolo Ferrario
* 1.Alfio Fontana