Milan: Allegri mirrors Conte’s title-winning Napoli journey | OneFootball

Massimiliano Allegri's Milan seems to be following, step by step, the trajectory taken by Antonio Conte's Napoli in the 2024/2025 season.

Milan, Allegri on the footsteps of Conte's tricolor Napoli: results, technical choices, and seasonal path coincide

From the complicated start to managerial decisions, from new market additions to elimination in the Coppa Italia, the parallel between the two teams is so evident that it has inevitably raised questions. The similarities, however, do not belong to superstition: they tell a sporting logic that could turn into a positive sign for Milan.

“I'm not superstitious, but I recognize negative vibes immediately”

This is how Allegri responded after the elimination against Lazio, a scenario already experienced by Conte's Napoli in the previous season. The precedent, however, has symbolic weight: Napoli also exited the Coppa Italia at the hands of Lazio, only to conclude the season with the championship sewn on their chest. Is it just a coincidence? Perhaps, but it's not the only one.

Two difficult seasons before the turning point: “Napoli tenth, Milan eighth”

The analogies begin from the previous year.

Napoli 2023/24, coming off the post-championship, finished tenth after a chaotic season without Europe.

Milan 2024/25, despite a Super Cup in the trophy case and a Coppa Italia final, finished eighth, also excluded from European competitions.

Both clubs reacted the same way: renewal of the sports management (Manna in Napoli, Tare in Milan) and entrusting the bench to an experienced and solid profile. Conte first and Allegri later as choices of stability, a return to the tried and tested to rebuild credibility.

An uphill start and a targeted market move: the acquisitions that change destiny

The first steps of the new championship also follow a similar script.

Napoli 2024/25 After a 3-0 defeat in Verona in the opening match, the club immediately intervened by giving Conte a structured and ready midfielder: Scott McTominay, who then became one of the pillars of the championship run.

Milan 2025/26 Defeated 2-1 by Cremonese at San Siro on the first day, with a fragile and disjointed performance, Allegri received a reinforcement very familiar to him: Adrien Rabiot, who arrived from Marseille to provide presence, balance, and experience to a department that urgently needed it.

Two almost overlapping episodes, certifying the clubs' intention to react decisively to the first negative signals.

Internal dynamics: changes of course, responsibility, and identity

Napoli and Milan also find themselves united in management dynamics:

a new sports director with a strong mandate;

a coach accustomed to pressure and rebuilding;

a squad that needs to regain identity, confidence, and continuity.

Napoli has already completed this process and faces the new season as a favorite. Milan, free from European commitments, can instead exploit the continuity of work to position itself as an outsider capable of surprising.

“The road is long, but the path closely resembles that of the champion Napoli”

The parallel does not guarantee an identical outcome, but the similarities are impossible to ignore. Milan today finds itself exactly where Napoli was twelve months ago: a wounded team, rebuilt with strong decisions and reinforced in a targeted way.

Whether the path can lead to the same goal is still to be verified. As often happens in football, only the field will provide the answer.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.