A.C. Milan is an Italian club that is also recognized as one of the biggest in the world both in terms of the number of trophies won and also their brand importance. Only Real Madrid hold more number of Champions League titles than AC Milan, which tells something about the history that dates back to 1899 when the club was founded. Ironically, AC Milan was formed by an Englishman, Herbert Kilpin. During the majority of its existence, AC Milan has mostly represented Serie A, while dropping down to lower divisions like Serie B only for about two seasons.
This prolonged existence in the Italian top-flight perhaps explains the reason for the 18 titles that Milan has secured over the years. Until a few seasons ago, this was the second biggest trophy haul behind Juventus. Even though it may have been matched by archrivals Inter Milan, the 18 titles proudly sits alongside the seven Champions League titles, which was previously known as the European Cup. Their most recent trophy came in 2011 when they won the Italian Serie A after a long gap, thus ending the domination of Inter Milan in the Italian league.
Many often regard the European cup as the one thing that reflects the standing of the club in the world. As it stands, AC Milan are second only to Real Madrid when it comes to the number of European Cups won.
The Italian club has won it seven times, although they are among the most recent to have lifted the trophy amongst the duo. So far, they are yet to win only the not-so-significant Europa league trophy, despite having qualified for the semi-finals twice. Apart from this, they have won every major tournament there is to be enjoyed both on the continental and the domestic level. AC Milan is also one of the very few big clubs in the world to share their ground with their archrivals: Inter Milan.
The San Siro, which is also called as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, is currently shared by both the clubs and it has a total capacity of around 80,000 people. This makes it one of the largest of football stadiums in the world. AC Milan can also be considered as one of the wealthiest clubs in the world mainly because of the owner, Silvio Berlusconi. Trophies that add prestige to Milan include the UEFA Super cup, Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, and Cup Winners’ Cup. Hence, it is no wonder that Milan were one of the founding clubs of the G-14 group.
AC Milan has also been graced by the presence of some of the greatest players in the world including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Paolo Maldini, Andrei Shevchenko, and Kaka. AC Milan is also the last club to have won the European Cup in succession, although any club is yet to repeat that feat in its modern form: the Champions League. AC Milan also has the ironic history of having a lot of ex-players becoming great managers who then go on to manage the club.