And it wouldn’t be allowed to play in the Union of European Football Associations UEFA Champions League Milan challenged the punishment The Italian Football Federation agreed to reduce the penalty to eight points And Milan was let back into the Champions League But it had to start in an earlier round And the points penalty still made it harder to qualify for the Champions League the next season Sticking Together But the players were determined to succeed They gathered for training early Some of them had just finished playing in the World Cup Five Milan players were on the Italian team that had won it all including defender Alessandro Nesta midfielders Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo and forwards Filippo Inzaghi and Alberto Gilardino On Milan they joined other stars including defender and captain Paolo Maldini midfielder Clarence Seedorf and forward Kaká They were united as a team to overcome the challenges FAST FACT Despite the eight-point penalty Milan ended up finishing fourth in Serie A in 2006 07 That was good enough to qualify for the Champions League again the next year 6
Paolo Maldini’s veteran leadership was crucial in Milan’s big season The league schedule was difficult Milan at one point lost three home games in a row That hadn’t happened in 40 years In the Champions League Milan narrowly beat Red Star Belgrade to qualify for the group stage There it played the three other teams in its group twice Milan was undefeated 7
EUROPEAN SOCCER The European soccer season is broken down into different levels of competition It can be confusing to keep track of it all Here’s a handy guide to help you follow the action League Play The 20 best teams in Italy play in Serie A Teams play all league opponents twice each season for 38 total games The three teams with the worst records are relegated or sent down to Serie B which sends its top three teams up to replace them the next season Serie A was officially founded in 1898 It has operated in its current format of each team playing the others twice since 1929 European Play The top three teams in Serie A qualify for the UEFA Champions League This annual tournament involves the best teams from the top leagues throughout Europe The Champions League debuted in 1992 It replaced the European Cup a similar tournament that began in 1955 The next three teams from Serie A qualify for the UEFA Europa League The Europa League is Europe’s second-tier tournament It runs in a similar manner to the Champions League but crowns its own winner The Europa League debuted in 1971 as the UEFA Cup but was renamed Europa League in 2009 Domestic Cups Teams from the top four levels of Italian soccer are eligible to play in the Coppa Italia or Italian Cup Nearly 80 teams from Serie A through Serie D can enter Founded in 1922 the tournament consists of eight rounds over two phases The highest-ranked Serie A teams enter at the Round of 16 8
Alberto Gilardino plays the ball against Celtic in a Champions League match at Glasgow Scotland through four games Although it lost the last two Milan had done enough to advance to the knockout round Milan played Scottish champions Celtic over two games in the round of 16 The first was a scoreless draw on the road in Glasgow Back home in Italy a goal in extra time sent Milan through In the next round against Germany’s Bayern Munich Milan again tied on the road before winning at home The semifinal saw Milan lose the first match to English foe 9
