1979–80 AC Milan season

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During the 1979–1980 season, Milan Associazione Calcio competed in Serie A, Coppa Italia and European Cup.

In his third campaign as chairman, Felice Colombo appointed club legend Gianni Rivera as vice-president and Massimo Giacomini as new head coach. The latter arrived from Udinese and was a former Milan player from 1966 to 1968. The main signings of the summer were midfielder Francesco Romano and forward Giuseppe Galluzzo, from A.C. Reggiana and Lecce respectively.

In the league, Milan initially tried to chase down rivals Inter, only to then lose pace at the start of the second half of the season, and abdicated in their defense of the Scudetto won the previous year, finishing the tournament in third place, five points behind title-winner Inter.

In Coppa Italia, Milan obtained seven points in the first group stage where they faced A.C. Monza, Pisa and Genoa and Pescara. In the quarter-finals, the squad was defeated by Roma with a 4–0 at San Siro and a 2–2 draw at Olimpico.

In the European Cup, the squad was eliminated in the round of 32 by Porto, which, after a draw at Porto, won at San Siro 1–0 thanks to a goal scored by Duda ending a 20 years undefeated streak at home in European competitions for Milan.

However, towards the end of the season, Milan was included in inquiries by authorities regarding the Totonero match fixing scandal. The alleged fixed match in question was a Milan-Lazio disputed on 6 January 1980. Federal prosecutors appointed several club players (Enrico Albertosi, Giorgio Morini and Stefano Chiodi) and president Felice Colombo too. At the end of the judicial process the sport judges sanctioned Colombo with a life ban from any role in football (later that sentence would be reduced by appeal); sanctions included suspensions for Albertosi, Morini and Chiodi (four years, one year and six months respectively) while the team was relegated to the 1980-81 Serie B (along with Lazio). Owing to the Totonero sanctions, the club cancelled the transfers in of Bruno Giordano and Paulo Roberto Falcão.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

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• Calciatori Panini 1979–80 (riedizione La Gazzetta dello Sport ed.). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2005.

• Tosi, Enrico (May 2005). Forza Milan! – La storia del Milan. Italia/Italy.

• "Stagione 1979–1980".