During the 2015–16 Serie A season, Abbiati became Milan's third-choice goalkeeper behind 16-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma. He made five appearances in the Coppa Italia, as he helped Milan to reach the final of the tournament, but was benched in favour of Donnarumma in Milan's 1–0 loss to Juventus in the final. Although it was initially unknown whether Abbiati would return for the 2016–17 season, he officially announced on 13 May that he would be retiring at the end of the season. Despite Milan announcing that Abbiati would make his final appearance in the season finale against Roma on 14 May, Abbiati instead opted to let Donnarumma start due to the importance of the match. In total, Abbiati managed 281 league appearances during his 15 years with the club.