1977–78 AC Milan season

Entrepreneur Felice Colombo became president of the club before the end of the previous season, while Nils Liedholm was signed as manager, after having been already a Milan player from 1949 to 1961 and coach from 1963 to 1966. Notable purchases include Ruben Buriani and Roberto Antonelli.

In the league, Milan started with ten consecutive games without defeats (four draws and six wins) which brought them to the first place in the standings. The subsequent series of three defeats and two draws meant that the Rossoneri ended the first half of the season in fourth place with 18 points, together with Inter and Perugia. In the second half of the season, Milan suffered only two defeats against Atalanta and Lazio, in both cases at San Siro, and finished the championship in fourth position with 37 points, a placement that allowed the club to qualify to the 1978-79 UEFA Cup. During the tournament, on 23 April 1978 in Verona, Franco Baresi made his debut with Milan. He would become a legend of the club in the following two decades.[2]

In the Cup Winners' Cup, Milan was eliminated in the round of 32 by the Spanish side Betis Seville who won 2-0 in Spain and lost the second leg 2-1 in Milan.

The season ended with the Coppa Italia, a competition that Milan, as holders of the trophy, started from the second round. Milan closed group B, which also included Taranto, Juventus and Napoli, in first place, on equal points with the latter; Napoli qualified for the final thanks to a better goal difference against Milan (+8 against +6).

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 Enrico Albertosi — GK  ITA Antonio Rigamonti — DF  ITA Aldo Bet — DF  ITA Franco Baresi — DF  ITA Simone Boldini — DF  ITA Fulvio Collovati — DF  ITA Maurizio Turone — DF  ITA Giuseppe Sabadini — DF  ITA Aldo Maldera — MF  ITA Fabio Capello — MF  ITA Giorgio Biasiolo — MF  ITA Ruben Buriani

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ITA Gianni Rivera (Captain) — MF  ITA Gabriello Carotti — MF  ITA Giorgio Morini — FW  ITA Giorgio Braglia — FW  ITA Roberto Antonelli — FW  ITA Alberto Bigon (vice-captain) — FW  ITA Egidio Calloni — FW  ITA Luciano Gaudino — FW  ITA Giovanni Sartori — FW  ITA Ugo Tosetto — FW  ITA Sergio Valentinuzzi — FW  ITA Francesco Vincenzi

• AC Milan

• Almanacco illustrato del Milan, ed: 2, March 2005. Panini.
• Enrico Tosi. La storia del Milan, May 2005. Italia/Italy cid Tosi.
• Milan. Sempre con te, December 2009. Mondadori. 2009. ISBN 978-88-04-59118-4.

• "Stagione 1977-1978". Magliarossonera.it.