After years of turmoil, Milan teams back in European elite

First came a return to the top of Italian soccer now comes a chance to reach the Champions League finalThe Milan teams are backBut only one will get the opportunity to compete for European soccers top prize as AC Milan faces city rival Inter Milan in the semifinals of the Champions LeagueThe victor will face either Real Madrid or Manchester City in the finalThreetime European champion Inter was the last Italian club to lift the trophy when it won an unprecedented treble of the league Italian Cup and Champions League under Joseacute Mourinho in 2010Also ReadMohammed Salahrsquos lsquotonrsquo inspires Liverpool to sixth victory on the trotMilan won the last of its seven titles in 2007To be part of a club like this is a dream Milan defender Fikayo Tomori said in an interview with The Associated PressTo go and play in the San Siro seeing it on the Champions League nights iquest its such an iconic stadium such an iconic sort of clubThe fact that two Italian teams are in the semifinals its obviously good for the league good for Italian football Were obviously focusing on us We want to be the bestMilan hosts Inter on Wednesday before the return leg the following Tuesday Both games will be at the San Siro as the teams share the stadiumWe got two really exciting games coming up Tomori saidTwo games that we can really show ourselves prove ourselves and you know we can hopefully add to the history of this clubSince the Milan teams last triumphs in Europe there have been slumps on the field and turmoil off it with both clubs changing ownership several times and coaches even more frequentlyHowever after years of mediocrity Inter and Milan ended lengthy waits for a Serie A title before finally making it back to the top level of European soccerCOACHING CHANGESInter has had 14 different coaches since Mourinho left the Nerazzurri after winning the Champions League iquest an average of more than one a yearRafael Beniacutetez replaced Mourinho but he lasted a matter of months before being fired The rest of the list includes Claudio Ranieri Roberto Mancini and Antonio ConteCurrent Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti steered Milan to the Champion League trophy in 2007 iquest and also in 2003 iquest but he quit just two years laterSince then there have been 10 different coaches in the Rossoneri hot seat The incumbent Stefano Pioli was also in charge of Inter in the 201617 seasonInter is now coached by Simone Inzaghi who has emerged as somewhat of a cup specialist He steered both previous club Lazio and Inter to the Italian Cup trophy and the Nerazzurri are back in the final of this years competitionInzaghi also led Inter to backtoback Italian Super Cup titles to match the two he won with LazioCHANGING OWNERSChinese retail giant Suning and USbased hedge firm Elliott Management turned things around for the Milan clubs which were under the stewardship of longterm Italian owners the last time they were at the top of European soccerSuning took over Inter in 2016 ending a threeyear reign by a consortium led by Indonesian businessman Erick Thohir Massimo Moratti had been in charge since 1995 before selling a majority share of the club to ThohirFive years after Suning took over Inter won its first Serie A title in more than a decade That was Inters first trophy since 2011 and the first league title since 2010Milan was also briefly owned by a Chinese group which purchased the club from Silvio Berlusconi in 2017 ending an era of more than 30 years However the consortium failed to repay part of a loan and Milan was taken over by Elliott the following yearElliott helped the club rectify its financial issues and after finishing second to Inter in 2021 Milan ended its own 11year wait for the Serie A title last season Shortly afterward the club was sold to another American investment firm RedBird Capital PartnersSANCTIONSInter and Milan were among the clubs that had to pay fines at the start of the season for breaching financial fair play rulesInter had also paid a fine in 2015 while Milan had endured even sterner punishment after overspending under its Chinese ownersWhen Elliott took over Milan was already embroiled in a case with UEFA over financial fair play breaches that later saw it voluntarily withdraw from the 20192020 Europa League to avoid penaltiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever